TY - JOUR T1 - Do we need to further educate healthcare professionals with smoking cessation referral? JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 44 IS - Suppl 58 SP - P4458 AU - Sheila Farnan AU - Emily Morris AU - Gurinder Tack AU - Dilip Nazareth AU - Duncan Fullerton Y1 - 2014/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P4458.abstract N2 - BackgroundNICE (UK) recommends1 that all health care professionals take the opportunity to refer smokers to a smoking cessation service (SCS) and this is a UK health priority.Our district general hospital has a smoking cessation in-reach service. The objectives of this study were to evaluate referral rates to this service among patients admitted to hospital via the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) with a view to improving the referral rates.MethodWe undertook a 2-week prospective review during winter of all admissions via the MAU to the respiratory ward, of smoking referral patterns.Results73 patient records were reviewed. Mean age 71 (SD 13) years; 52% male, 40% current smokers. Of these only 36% received documented smoking cessation advice from a health care professional on admission and 41% of these smokers were referred to SCS services, of which 30% received a review within 24 hours and 86% within 72 hours; following this 24% continued to smoke whilst an in-patient.ConclusionIdeally a SCS review should be within 24 hrs of admission. We are working with our MAU and SCS teams to enhance training and increase the referral rates to SCS in line with NICE guidance1, by implementing a regular education programme for all healthcare professionals.Reference:1. NICE- www.guidance.nice.org.uk/CG101/Guidance/pdf/English. ER -