How to advise and refer inpatients who smoke

Patients who smoke are more likely to experience postoperative complications than non-smokers and up to one-third of all hospital patients are estimated to be smokers. Inpatients are receptive to an offer of stop-smoking support but are not always referred to stop-smoking services. A pilot of a acute care referral system trained staff to deliver very brief advice on smoking via a short online training module, and provided a streamlined electronic referral system to local NHS stop-smoking services. The three-month pilot resulted in a 600% increase in referrals. Nursing staff felt that the system was simple and effective, and that patients had benefited.