Tobacco Dependency Treatment (TDT) programme offers new innovative medication to help save lives
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton's (UHDB) Tobacco Dependency Treatment team > who provide personalised support to patients in our hospitals who want to quit smoking, are "proud" to continue improving support for patients by being the first inpatient service in England to offer an innovative "life-saving" medication.
The new medication, Cytisine, is an alternative to Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), such as patches, but provides a release of the hormone dopamine, rather than nicotine. UHDB have been offering this to eligible inpatients at Royal Derby Hospital since May, and it will be available for inpatients at Queen's Hospital Burton over the coming months. Research shows the medication is not only equally or more effective than NRT in helping patients to stop smoking for good, but is also more cost-effective for the NHS.
The new medication has helped patients such as Richard Ford, who was treated for pneumonia at Royal Derby Hospital in September. He had smoked for 37 years and despite numerous attempts to stop, he had never managed to permanently quit. After being offered support through our Tobacco Dependency Treatment (TDT) team, including a personalised quit plan and being prescribed Cytisine Richard has remained tobacco free ever since.
Richard said: "I've been smoking since I was 16 years old and have tried vaping in the past, but it didn't help. This time round I haven't smoked since coming out of hospital."
He praised the TDT team for carefully explaining how they were able to support him and how the medication works, including how the dosage must be gradually reduced over time.
His partner, Tracey Ford, who has supported him since being discharged explained how the whole family have been behind him quitting smoking. She said how grateful they were to have the support offered to them at that time: "It was serious when he went into hospital, an eye opener to nearly losing him. We didn’t realise he would be offered help to quit smoking, it was an unexpected benefit and one we're thankful for. He's done really well with quitting smoking, which is going to help his overall health."
Dr Gillian Lowrey, Respiratory Consultant at UHDB and lead for TDT, said: "We are proud to have launched the TDT programme at UHDB in just over two years ago with the aim of reducing smoking rates in our communities to below the national average, and most importantly, to help save lives.
"It's fantastic to have another highly effective treatment option available to patients who are trying to quit smoking tobacco, and we are pleased to also be able to offer this to our patients at Queen's Hospital Burton later this year. This is a life-saving medication."
We know that by supporting patients to quit smoking, we can see substantial benefits, both for our patients and for the NHS. In its first year, the TDT team saved an estimated 380 lives and generated annual cost savings of £1,160,500 by reducing readmissions for smoking-related conditions like COPD, coronary heart disease, and other respiratory illnesses. Additionally, the programme has created an estimated 10 bed spaces per day by preventing potential readmissions. This demonstrates the significance of addressing tobacco dependency for both our patients and for UHDB.
Support to stop smoking
If you smoke and want support to quit this Stoptober the NHS provides a range of tools that can guide you in your journey to kick the habit. You can access national resources to help you quit smoking, including the NHS Quit Smoking App here (opens in new window) >.
You recover from smoking sooner than you think
Photo: Sam Ferguson and Ash Jubb, Tobacco Dependency Advisors from the TDT team, and patient Richard Ford.