Only 6pc of smokers advised by a pharmacist
Window displays can be used to communicate public health messages |
Only 6 per cent of smokers have been given advice on smoking by a pharmacist in the past five years, according to a survey
of smoking-related behaviour and attitudes published by the Office for National Statistics last week.
Over the same period, 37 per cent of smokers received advice from a GP
and 19 per cent received advice from someone else at their GP’s
surgery.
Graham Phillips, who runs a smoking cessation service across his small
group of pharmacies in Hertfordshire, told The Journal that there are
a number of ways in which pharmacists can encourage smokers to approach
them for advice on stopping. Pharmacists can, he suggested, use health
interventions to introduce the services available at a pharmacy.
“You can ask every customer buying a cough mixture whether they
smoke and whether they would like to stop, and if they want to stop you
can
explain the options available to them,” he said. “If that
happened in every pharmacy every time someone bought a cough mixture,
the effect could be enormous.”
He added that smoking cessation offers huge potential for synergy between
pharmacies and primary care trusts.
“As part of the new contract, pharmacies have to take part in six
public health campaigns a year and PCTs can use these to meet their own
public
health goals. But I don’t think many PCTs have thought it through
yet,” he said. “Pharmacists also need to use shop windows
and leaflet displays in a much more powerful way — every PCT should
make available posters and leaflets, combining national and local information,
for pharmacies to use.” |
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