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Ministers have been urged not to “rush out” their elective recovery plan this week by NHS Providers (NHSP) because the full impact of omicron on the service has not been established. NHSP chief executive Chris Hopson told HSJ the NHS could not sensibly sign up to recovery targets until the full impact of the latest covid surge on the service was better understood.
The warning follows government sources briefing newspapers this weekend that the plan would be one of the slews of major policies announced imminently — and dubbed “operation red meat” — to distract from the “party gate” scandal engulfing the prime minister.
Mr Hopson told HSJ: “A lot of very good work was done on the [elective recovery] plan before Christmas. But the bit, which needs careful thought, and risks not being done if the plan is rushed out too quickly, is what difference omicron is making and what the NHS can sensibly commit to, particularly for 2022-23, given the significant disruption that the Omicron surge has caused. We still don’t know how much and how quickly hospitalisation rates are going to plateau or come down and that will make a big difference in terms of how quickly we can fully restart recovering elective lists.”
The government had initially intended to unveil the elective recovery plan around the time of the NHS planning guidance 2022-23 last month, which eventually arrived on Christmas Eve. But ministers pushed back publication amid fears omicron could paralyse the service this winter and make it impossible to establish how much elective recovery work could be achieved in short to medium term.
The suggestion the plan could now be published this week met a sceptical response from some NHS leaders, who said the timing felt uncomfortably politically motivated rather than driven by good policy. One senior figure told HSJ: “Rushing out significant plans which will have a huge impact on the NHS on a timetable which appears to be driven by political expedience is simply no way to make good health policy.”
Source: HSJ, 17 January 2022
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A systematic review and meta-analysis found that the most effective smoking cessation approach was combining medicine therapies with varenicline.
Publication databases were searched by researchers from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom through March 2017 and updated February 2019 for randomized clinical trials of smoking cessation lasting ≥6 months. A total of 363 trials with 201,045 participants were included. An additional 53 observational studies comprising 8,783,5403 participants were included for the safety review.
According to the study findings, most monotherapies and combinatorial therapies were more effective than placebo at helping participants achieve sustained abstinence. Varenicline standard dose plus nicotine replacement, varenicline low dose plus nicotine replacement, and e-cigarette low dose were the most effective treatments.
In addition to pharmacological approaches, participants who received counselling were more likely to achieve sustained abstinence. The study authors acknowledged that varenicline is currently not licensed for use in the United Kingdom due to the presence of levels of N-nitroso-varenicline above the acceptable level of intake.
Source: Psychiatry Advisor, 18 January 2022
See also: NIHR - Thomas KH, Dalili MN, López-López JA, et al. Smoking cessation medicines and e-cigarettes: a systematic review, network meta-analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis.Health Technol Assess. 2021;25(59). doi:10.3310/hta25590
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Smokers in Norfolk have been offered e-cigarette vouchers to help them quit smoking. In the past year, Norfolk County Council - working with Smokefree Norfolk and a vape company - have given out 742 vouchers for e-cigarettes and equipment worth £20 to people looking to quit smoking, as part of a county-wide strategy.
The voucher enables adult smokers to obtain a vape starter kit that includes a vape device and juice. Smokefree Norfolk’s stop smoking advisors will support them through their quit programme. Around 5,000 people usually quit smoking each year in Norfolk, according to Dr Louise Smith, the county’s director of public health. But that number came down to 3,840 last year, a drop she puts down to the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Louise Smith said: “The best option would be to quit completely, but that’s very difficult for many people because cigarettes are so addictive. There are hundreds of chemicals and poisons in cigarettes, and the vast majority of those chemicals and poisons are not in vapes. The evidence is very strong that you will do yourself far less damage vaping than smoking.”
Source: Eastern Daily Press, 20 January 2022
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A shop in Ormskirk is at risk of losing its licence due to claims that it sold fake cigarettes and allowed children to purchase alcohol. Trading Standards also accuses the shop of selling tobacco and nicotine products to underage customers.
An application for a review of the shop’s licence has now been lodged with West Lancashire Borough Council. According to a report submitted by Sam McConnell of Lancashire County Council Trading Standards Service, the shop and its licence holder are failing to observe the licensing objective of protecting children from harm. Mr McConnell’s report gives more examples of Trading Standards’ involvement with the shop and the alleged breaches of its licence.
Councillor Gareth Dowling, the portfolio holder for Communities and Community Safety, said: “The list of breaches of the law and licensing conditions by Ormskirk superstore is unforgivable, and I am grateful to LCC Trading Standards for submitting this application for the review of their premises licence. […] Cancelling the shop’s licence is being encouraged as in the opinion of Lancashire County Council Trading Standards Service, the information presented in the application is clear evidence that the Prevention of Crime and Disorder and the Protection of Children from Harm Licensing Objectives have been disregarded at these premises.”
Source: Liverpool Echo, 19 January 2022
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A new set of clinical guidelines for medical professionals to help smokers give up cigarettes have been published. The “Stop Smoking” guidelines are to aid doctors and other healthcare professionals to best advise adults to give up smoking and remain smokefree.
Approximately one in six adults in Ireland (16%) smoke every day, while 18% of adults in total are currently classed as smokers. Within the under-25 age group, men are significantly more likely to smoke than women (19% and 11% respectively), a Health Ireland survey in 2021 found. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly welcomed the new guidelines and said actions being taken would “bring us closer to our goal of becoming a tobacco free society” while adding that “Ireland is recognised worldwide as a leader and innovator in tobacco control.”
Mr Donnelly went on to say: “This National Clinical Guideline is not only an important resource for our health professionals to assist those who wish to quit smoking, but it is also a recognition of the significant public health harms caused by tobacco use and a signal of our continued commitment to reduce and ultimately eliminate those harms.”
Along with using evidence-based approaches to “remove the visibility of tobacco products from everyday life”, Minister of State Frank Feighan said all interventions at the government’s disposal should be used, “legislative, policy, cessation aids and taxation measures – to support people to quit smoking and prevent smoking initiation.”
Source: Independent.ie, 19 January 2022
See also: Gov.ie – Stop Smoking National Clinical Guidelines
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