DN490292 Smokefree Pregnancy Incentive Scheme

Tender description

Reducing the numbers who smoke in pregnancy is a Public Health priority in Liverpool. Good progress has been made in recent years however the current 12.4% prevalence rate is still lagging behind that of England (10.4%) To support a fast track in reducing levels of pregnant smokers in the city Liverpool CCG are funding Public Health to run a Smokefree Start to Life Programme. The Smokefree Pregnancy Incentive Scheme is a key component of that programme. The use of incentive schemes has been shown to be particularly successful in supporting smoking in pregnancy when used with disadvantaged groups. Incentives are an established part of health professional payment systems and have been used to support adoption of individual positive health behaviour. Features of successful schemes: •Shopping vouchers which can be used for common purchases, excluding tobacco or alcohol. •Vouchers are given for coming back after the first appointment and engaging in a quit attempt. •Subsequent vouchers are given for validated quits with carbon monoxide testing. •Rewards for women remaining smokefree post-partum have been successful in some schemes. Vouchers issued for the incentive scheme will be monitored through an internal audit within the smoking in pregnancy service by specialist smoking in pregnancy advisors. The authenticity of an ongoing quit is checked through the use of Carbon Monoxide monitoring. At the moment (due to COVID19) face to face CO monitoring is currently suspended. However use of remote CO monitors that can be used in conjunction with smart phones to automatically email CO readings is now being effectively deployed across the country where these Schemes are being run. The funding for this Scheme will be for the purchase of remote CO monitors and Love2Shop vouchers (the incentives). Due to delay in receiving the transfer of funding from Liverpool CCG there is now an urgent need to mobilise this work. There are a number of key reasons why Solutions4Health are required to run this Scheme: 1.As the commissioned provider of smoking cessation support in Liverpool Solutions4Health (Smokefree Liverpool) are the only provider to whom pregnant women are referred for stop smoking support in Liverpool. 2.They have already developed the auditing tool to monitor issue of vouchers and subsequent outcomes. 3. They employ trained advisors who are available to provide pregnant women with the critical one to support required to maximise chances of achieve a successful quit.