Pharmacist prescriber smoking cessation intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic

Trudy Thomas; Bronte Sykes; Shilpa Shah; Sarah Corlett

doi:10.18332/tid/170580

Pharmacist prescriber smoking cessation intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic

Tob Induc Dis. 2023 Oct 27:21:142. doi: 10.18332/tid/170580. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Trudy Thomas¹, Bronte Sykes¹, Shilpa Shah^{2

3}, Sarah Corlett^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Medway School of Pharmacy, Universities of Greenwich and Kent at Medway, Kent, United Kingdom.
² Kent LPC, Kent, United Kingdom.
³ Community Pharmacy North East London, London, United Kingdom.
⁴ Pharmacy Department, Medway NHS Foundation Trust, Gillingham, Kent, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Introduction: During the pandemic, smokers who wished to access support to quit faced additional barriers. A smoking cessation service which utilized pharmacist independent prescribers working within community pharmacy was implemented. Clients received behavioral advice via a consultation with an advisor and then three consultations with a pharmacist, who prescribed varenicline, where appropriate. Consultations were by phone or video. This evaluation assessed the self-reported outcomes and experiences of clients and pharmacists.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used involving both on-line questionnaires to clients and interviews with a sample of questionnaire respondents and participating prescribing pharmacists.

Results: The questionnaire was completed by 85 clients with 59% reporting they had quit. Eleven clients and seven out of eight pharmacists were interviewed. Varenicline had been received by 96% of clients. The best aspects of the service reported by clients in the questionnaire and at interview were support received from the pharmacist and ease of access to varenicline. Clients regarded the service as being 'safe' to access during the pandemic. Nearly three-quarters of client respondents (72%) stated no service improvements were required. However, national supply challenges made collection of varenicline from the nominated pharmacy an issue. Some clients experienced a long wait-time before accessing the service. For pharmacists, the service offered flexibility including the opportunity to contact clients 'out of office' hours without distractions. However, not being physically in the pharmacy could result in them not being able to access the client's medicine history. Pharmacists identified that remote consultations were not ideal for all clients.

Conclusions: Pharmacist prescribers can deliver effective smoking cessation services through remote consultations. Greater flexibility would allow the service to be tailored to the client's need.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; pharmacy; smoking; smoking cessation.