Tobacco Dependence Advisor

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Tobacco Dependence Team at King’s College Hospital.

Treating admitted inpatients for tobacco dependence during their hospital stay is now a standard of care in the NHS. Effective treatment leads to substantial benefits for the patient’s health and also benefits the healthcare system. The NHS Long Term Plan is committed to delivering tobacco dependence treatment to all admitted patients that smoke.

The primary focus of the role is to support delivery of Tobacco Dependence Treatment across the following pathway:

• a. NHS Inpatient Tobacco Dependence Treatment Delivery Model
• Providing personalised support to inpatients and post-discharge care

The role may also support the following pathways as required:

• b. Cessation of Smoking Treatment in the Emergency Department (CoSTED)
• Provision of nicotine vapes to patients attending ED.
• c. Stop B4 the Op initiative
• Delivery of routine tobacco dependence treatment prior to elective surgery

Main duties of the job

We are looking for patient centred and highly motivated individuals to join our team. Tobacco Dependence Advisors play a vital role in liaising and working with other healthcare professionals to support the patient’s tobacco dependence treatment plan and ongoing care. The post holder will deliver behavioural interventions to patients, such as developing self-regulation skills, withdrawal management techniques, effective use of tobacco dependence medication and enhancing confidence to pursue long-term abstinence.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical responsibilities

• Provide tobacco dependence advice and support to patients attending the Emergency Department (ED), elective surgery clinics or admitted to an inpatient ward, liaising with multidisciplinary teams where appropriate.
• Work closely with local Stop Smoking Services to ensure the appropriate support is provided as part of the patient’s care pathway.
• When required assess inpatients tobacco dependence, and with the support of Tobacco Dependence Specialists, devise an appropriate treatment plan and ensure tobacco dependence treatment is given throughout their hospital stay and after discharge.
• Deliver evidence-based tobacco dependence treatment in accordance with Department of Health, NICE and NCSCT guidance.
• Support and promote the King’s College Hospital Smokefree Policy.
• Provide effective support to patients who are committed to a goal of long-term abstinence according to the care pathway and following discharge from hospital.
• Carry out comprehensive assessments of the patient’s tobacco dependence, ensuring correct pharmacotherapies are administered.
• Formulate, deliver and document tobacco dependence treatment to patients, evaluating outcomes and working with care teams.
• Review smoker’s level of withdrawal symptoms and ability to manage nicotine withdrawal, providing appropriate support.
• Promptly reviewing patients following contact with a clinical team or hospital admission.
• Provide assertive in-reach tobacco dependence support, actively engaging identified patients that smoke in conversations about the benefits of quitting to their health.
• Deliver one to one support and treatment for patients.
• Liaise with medical, pharmacist and nursing teams if appropriate to ensure optimal care and withdrawal management for smokers.
• Maintain support and continuity of care when patients are transferred to another ward/speciality.
• Deliver regular telephone or health app based remote support to patients after discharge from hospital.
• Provide support and encouragement to non-smoking patients who have low confidence in remaining smokefree.
• Provide tobacco dependence support to staff
• To manage a caseload of patients independently and prioritise their needs.
• To contribute to the ongoing development, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of the tobacco dependence treatment team.
• Assist TDT Specialists to gather and analyse service outcome data.
• Participate in national campaigns at King’s such as Stoptober, Lung Cancer Awareness and No Smoking Day.

Research and Service Development

• Contribute to the delivery and development of the Tobacco Dependence team.
• Actively promote and support the Trust’s Smokefree Policy.
• Provide continuity of support between hospital and discharge.
• Maintain comprehensive service data to capture activity levels and outcomes.

Personal and Professional

• Plan and organise own workload to ensure service demands are met.
• Act as an ambassador for the Tobacco Dependence Team.
• Review and share best practice with other health care professionals to maintain high standards of service delivery.
• Develop knowledge, skills and expertise to support tobacco dependent patients with a range of health conditions.
• Participate in training and in-house supervision sessions.
• Use a reflective practice approach to aid learning and development.
• To work independently with patients, recognising when there is a need to defer to a more senior member of staff for advice and support.
• Liaise with GPs, pharmacies and local NHS stop smoking services to facilitate ongoing support and pharmacotherapy for patients in line with local protocols and procedures. Thrive in a team – orientated environment, communicating effectively, actively contributing to group efforts, open to feedback and willing to share ideas.
• Work flexibly to ensure service continuity and demands are met.

Education and Training

• Promote and support delivery of Very Brief Advice (VBA) and bespoke tobacco dependence training to a range of staff within the hospital, using the NCSCT online training modules or face to face training.
• Assist colleagues delivering training and support to ward-based staff to implement the Admission Care Bundle.
• Keep informed of developments and innovation in practice and ensure all training, information and advice is up to date and evidence based.
• Attend and actively participate in training and development sessions.

Information Systems and Data Management

• Maintain appropriate confidential records and data systems.
• Ensure patient records and service data is accurate and up to date.
• Maintain supervision records for quality and audit purposes.
• Use data to analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.
• Assist senior colleagues use monitoring and evaluation tools, making recommendations to inform project development.

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.