02/04/09
Research Fellow appointed Director of new NHS Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training
Dr Andy McEwen, an Honorary Research Fellow in the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences, has been appointed as Director of the new NHS Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT).
The NCSCT is a three-year Department of Health-funded programme that has been set up to optimise the quality of behavioural support for smoking cessation in England. It offers a unique opportunity to establish national, evidence-based standards for smoking cessation behavioural support and for training of smoking cessation specialists; to deliver and evaluate accredited training programmes; and to support practitioner registration.
Dr McEwen commented: “The NHS Stop Smoking Service is a world leading institution that provides access to effective medications, plus expert support and advice, to over 600,000 smokers a year. To lead a centre that will recognise, evaluate and develop good clinical practice within this service is an honour for all involved.”
Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said: “This has the potential to make an important national and international contribution to this key area of public health.”
The United Kingdom is recognised as having the most effective tobacco control measures of any country in Europe and is a world leader in supporting smokers to quit for good. It is currently the only country in the world that has a network of free stop smoking services.
Dr Andy McEwen is Senior Research Nurse and Assistant Director of Tobacco Studies at the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Unit, University College London, and an Honorary Research Fellow in the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences. He referees for a variety of academic journals, and acts as a consultant to the Department of Health and to a number of smoking cessation services on the delivery of treatment services.
