Housing evidence / case study · working draft
Greater Manchester: quitting support for NHS staff
NHS workers could access advisers around the clock and have free stop-smoking treatment delivered to their homes.
01 / THE APPROACH
What was tried
Greater Manchester partnered with the Smoke Free app to make quitting support accessible to NHS workers, including people working shifts. The offer combined six months of digital behavioural support with 12 weeks of treatment.
Workers could contact trained advisers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and order nicotine replacement products or vaping supplies for home delivery. This brought support around people's working lives.
02 / THE FINDINGS
What was learned
The evaluation reported 1,567 participants. In a separate group of 300 recruited for detailed assessment, 111 (37%) had carbon-monoxide-verified abstinence at 12 weeks.
The 37% result applies to that assessment group, not to all participating staff.
03 / TRANSFER TO WALES
What Wales could learn
Shift workers could use advisers at any hour and receive treatment at home. Delivery depended on a digital support service, trained advisers and a funded product supply.
The useful feature is removing appointment and collection barriers for staff. The evaluation does not show whether this changed smoking at hospital entrances.
Sources & review
Sivabalah et al., Treating Tobacco Dependency in National Health Service Workers in Greater Manchester: An Evaluation of a Bespoke Digital Service. JTO Clinical and Research Reports 5(6), 100674 (2024). DOI 10.1016/j.jtocrr.2024.100674. Open-access study. Primary research checked 23 October 2026. Evaluation subgroup denominator and disclosed commercial interest retained.
