An observational study of system-level changes to improve the recording of very brief advice for smoking cessation in an inpatient mental health setting

Table 1 Amendments to recording of VBA in the EHCR

	Pre January 2015		Post January 2015
	Smoking questions	Response options	Smoking questions	Response options
ASK	Does the patient smoke tobacco	Yes / No / Uncertain / Leave blank	Does the patient currently smoke tobacco?	Yes / no (mandatory)
ASK	Is the patient motivated to try to quit?		Question removed
ADVISE	Was advice to stop given to patient?		Has the patient been advised that stopping smoking is the best thing they can do for their health and free support is available?	Yes / No / Leave blank
ACT^a	Was the patient referred to a smoking cessation service?		Does the patient consent to a referral to support from a specialist adviser?	Yes / No / Leave blank
ACT	Was a brief intervention offered?		Question removed

^aNeither version of the EHCR included a question about ‘offer’ of referral, so this was inferred from the recording of yes and no to the questions about consent for referral

ISSN: 1471-2458