Pharmacy smoking cessation services axed as part of Brent PCT cost-cutting exercise
No Smoking Day campaign poster |
Pharmacy smoking cessation services in Brent, London, are being withdrawn
in response to a cost-cutting exercise at Brent Teaching Primary Care
Trust — a retrograde step, according to the secretary of the local pharmaceutical committee. The announcement comes ahead of next week’s
No Smoking Day.
Although clinic-based services will continue, pharmacy-based enhanced
service smoking cessation schemes will be cancelled from 31 March. In
a letter to smoking cessation community advisers, Rod Goodyear, assistant
director of specialist services at Brent Teaching PCT, acknowledged that
the withdrawal of the service came at a difficult time. “In the
run up to the ban on smoking in public places on 1 July this decision
will come as a considerable disappointment,” he said. “However,
it has to be seen in the context of the PCT’s serious financial
position and the necessity to achieve financial balance by 31 March 2008.”
He explained that the PCT had considered various ways of reducing costs. “The
option with the greatest potential for savings was the removal of payments
to the community advisers, so it is with regret that I am writing to
give you notice of our intention to cease the current community adviser
scheme on 31 March. Accordingly, you should not admit any new people
to the programme after this date as your claims for payment will not
be accepted.”
Cost-cutting will also affect the core Brent Stop Smoking Service, Mr
Goodyear said. The service will lose a member of staff and will have
to review its activities to ensure it provides an effective response
to smokers wishing to quit before the smoking ban.
Michael Levitan, secretary to the Middlesex Pharmaceutical Group of local
pharmaceutical committees, warned that the withdrawal of the pharmacy
smoking cessation service would send out the wrong message to pharmacists
and the public. “First,” he said, “It will not fill
pharmacists with confidence in the new contractual framework if enhanced
services appear to be the first victim of cut backs. Secondly, it does
not fit with the Government’s own public health messages and the
introduction of the smoking ban in July.”
He added that it was also disappointing that the borough would be returning
to a level 3 (clinic-based) only service. “The level 2 pharmacy
service was introduced because the level 3 service was not reaching enough
smokers,” he explained. “Brent community pharmacists have
contributed hugely to the number of non-smokers that are now in the borough.”
News feature p275 |
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