Smoking Cessation Program
We will provide guidance and encouragement to enable you to overcome any difficulties you may encounter when attempting to quit. Whether you have attempted to quit on numerous occasions or have never tried, our aim is to provide whatever support is required to guide you through a process from being a contented smoker to being a confident ex-smoker. We will explain the negative effects of smoking and the benefits of giving up smoking.
Our pharmacy team will help you to quit smoking
using the 5 A’s program:
Ask
Systematically identify all smokers at every visit. Record smoking status, no. of cigarettes smoked per day/week and year started smoking.
Advise
Urge all smokers to quit. Advice should be clear and personalised.
Assess
Determine willingness and confidence to make a quit attempt.
Assist
Aid the smoker in quitting. Provide behavioural support. Recommend/prescribe pharmacological aids. If not ready to quit promote motivation for future attempt.
Arrange
Follow-up appointment within 1 week or if appropriate refer to specialist cessation service for intensive support. Document the intervention.
The benefits of stopping or not smoking start straight away:
- The good news is that once you quit smoking, your body experiences a series of beneficial health changes that begin immediately and continue for years
- Within 20 minutes of quitting, your blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal. Circulation improves in the hands and feet, making them warmer
- After 8 hours, oxygen levels in the blood return to normal. Your chances of a heart attack start to fall
- Within 24 hours, carbon monoxide is cleared from your body and after 48 hours, your sense of taste and smell begin to improve
- After 72 hours, breathing will become easier and your energy levels will increase
- After 1 year, your risk of a heart attack reduces by 50%
- After 10 years, your risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker and your risk of a heart attack falls to about the same as someone who has never smoked.
