Lords Committee Stage of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill
Government urged to act now to ensure taxpayer-funded stop smoking services meet NICE guidelines as majority fail to deliver best practice.
Conservative peer Lord Moylan has called on the government to insist that publicly funded stop smoking services comply with NICE best practice guidelines.
Speaking during the Committee Stage of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill on November 13th, Lord Moylan highlighted that the majority of local stop smoking services, which between them receive around £150 million of Government grants each year, fail to comply with the guidelines issued by the Government’s official healthcare advisor, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.
NICE guidelines list four different smoking cessation methods that local Stop Smoking Services “must ensure are accessible to adults who smoke.”
· behavioural interventions
· medicinally licensed products – including nicotine replacements
· Nicotine-containing e-cigarettes
· Allen Carr’s Easyway in-person group seminar
But most local Stop Smoking Services offer only the nicotine replacement method and e-cigarettes as the core of their support to smokers who want to quit. These nicotine patches, gums, pills and vapes do not break the nicotine addiction. They just use other ways to administer the drug.
Smokers who quit using these nicotine replacement methods remain addicted to nicotine. Many start smoking again in the longer term. The minister and various peers stated in the Second Reading Debate that addiction to nicotine was bad and that the aim of the Bill was to end nicotine addiction.
Critics say it cannot be right that most Government funded local stop smoking services fail to follow NICE Guidelines on best practice.
Lord Moylan is calling for Government to insist that any service receiving public money must follow the NICE best practice guidance to ensure best outcomes and best value for money. He urged the Government to amend guidance that accompanies the grants to insist that the NICE best practice guidelines must be followed.
His call was supported by Liberal Democrat peer Lady Walmsley.
Lord Moylan said, “We are at a critical point in helping people quit smoking for good to transform society. This Government must act to ensure that smokers wanting to quit get access to the full raft of support recommended as best practice by NICE wherever they live in the UK, ensuring taxpayers money is able to deliver for all.”
Health Minister, Baroness Merron, said she would take soundings and write to Lord Moylan. For media interviews and further enquiries, contact Paul Baker: pb@allencarr.com
