Smokefree Skills: Training needs of mental health

Transcript:Smokefree Skills: Training needs of mental health:
Smokefree Skills: Training needs of mental health nurses and psychiatrists “I mean this notion of the ‘poor mental health patient’ who you know, doesn't have much going for them and can only you know, the only joy in their life is their packet of cigarettes, it's like, and ‘who am I to take that away from them’… I think it would be worth having some kind of training to challenge your own beliefs of people's potential… it's just like a biased and slightly patronising viewpoint but at the same time it kind of represents the model of care that we're giving people, that the only solace they have is in a cigarette, which doesn't really reflect well on us” (Consultant Psychiatrist) Policy context Addressing smoking among people with SMI is a growing policy priority Five Year Fwd View NHS Long Term Plan Tobacco Control Plan for England Well trained staff more effective at addressing tobacco dependency Growing policy and political priority– but are staff equipped to meet this challenge? Method Many professions contribute to health outcomes for people with mental ill health but we only had capacity to focus on MH nurses and psychiatrists Focus groups Psychiatrists: two focus groups with 22 participants in total MH nurses: two focus groups with 15 participants in total Survey Survey ran in November 2020 265 respondents were included in final analysis Headline findings Staff are well informed about the health impacts of smoking BUT Lack of knowledge on key aspects of addressing smoking in patients including: medications, VBA and cessations options Training on smoking limited (or non-existent) across people’s education and working life Enduring myths and negative attitudes about addressing smoking – some linked to misperceptions of smokefree policies Additional organisational barriers to effectively addressing patients smoking outside of training barriers High level of interest in additional training and support for embedding training as mandatory Overarching recommendations A plan must be developed and implemented by NHSE to ensure training meets the requirements of implementing NICE guidance on smoking in both inpatient and community mental health settings. As the NHS Long Term Plan commitments are rolled out in mental health settings gaps in training must be addressed in line with the detailed findings in this report. Key findings: Current training Key findings: Current training Key quotes: Current training “Can I say I'm new to this Trust and I've never come across any teaching or