Smoking Cessation Webinar: Partial Agonists in Secondary Care

Wednesday 22nd April 2026 (12 - 1:30pm) on Microsoft Teams

SCAH is running a webinar series for Local Authorities & Community Stop Smoking Services designed specifically for community practitioners, service managers, commissioners, and public health leaders. The session will spotlight innovation, share best practices, and accelerate local progress toward a smokefree future, with a focus on effective smoking cessation strategies.

Agenda

Welcome by Heidi Croucher, Founder and Joint Lead Convenor, SCaH.

Russ Moody, Health & Wellbeing Programme Lead, OHID We are pleased to welcome Russ who will provide updates on the current national picture, including the LA Community Grant (2026-2029) and the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Hilary Wareing, Managing Director, Improving Performance in Practice (iPiP) We are delighted to welcome Hilary who will provide expert insight on the CLeaR Self‑Assessment and Peer Assessment tools, and maximising use of available tools and frameworks, including partial agonists, to end smoking.

Smokefree Generation Funding in Action: Successful strategies for reducing health inequalities and practical pathways to achieving a 5% smoking prevalence rate. We will hear from local areas, highlighting real‑world examples of areas that have rolled out innovative service models achieving exceptional reach among groups traditionally hardest to engage:

Kirklees Community Mental Health Orla Madden, Smoking Cessation Pathway Development Lead, Kirklees Wellbeing Service. 

Birmingham Rough Sleepers Keiran Mckenzie, Adults Team Service Lead, Public Health Division, Birmingham City Council (with Dr Mary Ilesanmi and Rachel Emmerich).

Dorset's targeted approach to engage a wider range of communities Sam Harvey, Behaviour Change Team Manager, LiveWell Dorset, and Sarah Arnold, Training and Engagement Manager, LiveWell Dorset.

Martin Lever, Joint Lead Convenor, SCaH Martin will provide details of how to join the new SCaH Community Smoking Cessation Knowledge Exchange Hub. Learn more about our K-Hub that will feature guest speakers, opportunities to share and learn, and provide peer support.

Q&A

Please register for the webinar by completing the form below.

Essential updates for the smoking cessation community: Partial Agonists in Secondary Care, and Community Hubs.

Tuesday 24th March 2026.

A Partial Agonist (Cystisinicline and Varenicline) Recap

Heidi Croucher, Founder and Joint Lead Convenor, SCaH.

As partial agonists return to the forefront of treatment options in our smoking cessation efforts, we’ll provide an accessible overview including:

How partial agonists work and why they’re effective

Safety and suitability considerations

Evidence supporting their use in routine cessation care

A great refresher for all frontline professionals.

Smoking Cessation Service (Advanced Pharmacy) – Key Changes

Rob Hebdon, Senior Policy Lead – Pharmacy Clinical Strategy, Primary Care & Community Services, NHS England.

Pharmacy teams play a crucial role in the next phase of our Smokefree strategy. This segment outlined:

Updates to the Advanced Pharmacy Smoking Cessation Service

Referral pathways and best-practice approaches

Support tools being rolled out to enhance quit success rates.

PGD Support for Partial Agonists & the New Smoke Free Offer

Louise Ross, Clinical Consultant (NCSCT) and Stop Smoking Lead, Smoke Free Digital.

Louise gave an update on the new Patient Group Direction (PGD) support, making partial agonists more accessible across clinical settings.

Topics include:

PGD framework and training requirements

How the new Smoke Free offer integrates medication support

Practical tips for implementation across services.

Embedding Partial Agonists into Outpatient, Peri‑Operative & ED Pathways

Martin Lever, SCaH Joint Lead Convenor.

As part of the NHS 10-Year Plan, a key focus in 2026 will be to expand support beyond primary care. Martin outlined:

How hospitals can initiate partial agonists during outpatient visits

Peri‑operative benefits, including improved surgical outcomes

Opportunities for brief interventions and prescribing in Emergency Departments.

This session aims to support consistent adoption of partial agonists across secondary care.

Community Hubs: A 10‑Year Vision for Smoking Cessation

Darush Attar-Zadeh Clinical Fellow Respiratory Lead pharmacist in NW London. Primary Care Respiratory Society (PCRS) Executive Chair. Co-Chair Task Force Medicines Optimisation Committee and part of the IPCRG teaching faculty for treating Tobacco Dependence and Asthma Right Care.

Darush explored the role of Community Hubs within the long-term Smokefree strategy. Topics include:

How hubs can serve as accessible, non‑clinical touchpoints

Integration with wider wellbeing and prevention programmes

Opportunities for local organisations to participate in future development.

Interactive Q&A

Join our webinar series for further insights and updates on smoking cessation strategies.

Carbon Monoxide Breath Testing Beyond Cigarettes: Emerging Evidence and Best Practice in Community and Secondary Care

Tuesday, 3rd February 2026

Speakers

Louise Ross – Clinical Consultant (NCSCT) and Stop Smoking Lead, Smoke Free Digital

Heidi Croucher – Lead Convenor, Smoking Cessation and Harm Reduction (SCaH) and Lead Treating Tobacco Dependency Midwife, NHS England Prevention

Kevin Smith – Harm Reduction Practitioner, Dorset HealthCare

Session Overview

Carbon monoxide (CO) breath testing is widely recognised as a key tool in smoking cessation, but its role is expanding across community, maternity, mental health, and secondary care settings. This webinar series will explore emerging evidence, practical applications, and real-world examples demonstrating how CO breath testing can support wider tobacco dependency treatment and harm reduction pathways, including the use of partial agonists in therapy.

Topics

Carbon monoxide breath testing in the community | Shisha use and carbon monoxide exposure | Cannabis use and carbon monoxide | Embedding CO breath testing within secondary care as best practice | Case study from a Dorset mental health inpatient hospital | Live Q&A session

Smoking Cessation Services for People with Serious Mental Illness: A Rapid Evaluation

Tuesday 9th December 2025

Speaker: Dr. Jennifer Newbould, Senior Research Leader at RAND Europe and member of the Executive and Co-PPIE Lead for BRACE (The Birmingham, RAND and Cambridge Evaluation Centre, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research).

In this webinar series, Jennifer presented the BRACE study, a rapid evaluation of NHS England’s stop smoking services for people with severe mental illness (SMI). 

Drawing on a mixed-methods approach, Jennifer discussed findings on service delivery, measures of success, and referral pathways, including the role of partial agonists in smoking cessation. She also shared insights from individuals with lived experience of both smoking and SMI. Jennifer concluded by offering recommendations for service development, policymakers, and future evaluation initiatives.

Dr. Jennifer Newbould has over twenty-five years’ experience in health services research, focusing on rapid evaluation, primary care, and patient experience. Currently, she co-leads the Drug Strategy Investment in Treatment And Recovery (D-SITAR) Evaluation (with Ms. Lucy Strang, RAND Europe) and the CONCORD: Coordinated Care of Rare Diseases study (with Prof. Stephen Morris, University of Cambridge). She is the Principal Investigator on the smoking cessation project for people with serious mental illness.

SCaH partnered with Viatris for a six-part webinar series focused on smoking cessation, titled (C2C). This series aims to deepen knowledge of smoking cessation through the use of nicotine analogue therapies, including partial agonists. 

Led by expert speakers Martin Lever (Smoking Cessation & Health Conference Joint Lead Convenor) and Heidi Croucher (Founder & Joint Lead Convenor of SCaH), the webinar series offers valuable insights into innovative approaches to treating tobacco dependence. The goal is to improve patient outcomes and transform clinical practices.