Promoting engagement with a Stop Smoking Service via pro-active telephone calls

What proportion of smokers in a deprived area of London, contacted by telephone, are interested in quitting and accept a referral for cessation support?

Current smokers from records of general practitioners (GPs) were telephoned; if interested in quitting they were offered a referral to the local Stop Smoking Service (SSS) and smoking status was assessed after 6 months.

Over half of current smokers (53%) were interested in receiving help to stop and 39% accepted a referral to the SSS. Six months later 21% of those contacted reported not smoking. Over one-quarter (28%) of those referred set a quit date with the service and 39% of these were recorded as abstinent four weeks after their quit date.

Calling smokers from GP lists appears to offer promise as a means of prompting quit attempts and ensuring that the chances of these quit attempts succeeding are maximized through attendance at NHS SSS.

GP records need to be accurate and maintained. Smoking patients can be contacted by telephone, informed about the availability of local cessation services and referred directly.