Whether the role of smoking cessation practitioners is integral to the treatment plans of patients with smoking-related cancers.

Funding for the provision of smoking cessation services is allocated to NHS health boards. Individual boards are then responsible for design and delivery of high quality services, in line with current evidence and guidance, in order to deliver the agreed targets and outcomes.
Individual treatment plans for all patients, including cancer patients should be formulated to take into account current specific guidance and recommendations in order to ensure greater access to cessation support in acute settings. Training on smoking cessation for frontline workers in the secondary care setting has been developed and is promoted in current guidance.
This approach has recently been set out in the Chief Executive Letter 1 (2012) on the Health Promoting Health Service1 which was issued on 16 January 2012. This includes a specific action for NHS boards to ensure dedicated specialist smoking cessation support is available within the hospital/acute setting which is integrated with community-based cessation services.
A number of boards run pre-operative assessment clinics during which patients are encouraged to quit smoking prior to any operation. The benefits of stopping smoking are explained and how the NHS can help smokers quit. If patients choose to quit they are referred immediately to specialist NHS smoking cessation services.
Note: CEL 1 (2012) Heath Promoting Health Service: Action in Hospital Settings http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/mels/CEL2012_01.pdf.