Smoking Cessation Services Axed

From October, the enhanced smoking cessation service, which is provided by 120 pharmacies in Surrey, will be cut by the PCT.
The cuts come despite more that 3,100 patients successfully quitting across Surrey in 2008-2009. 300 of whom accessed the service through pharmacies. The news follows reports from Numark of widespread cuts to pharmacy minor aliments schemes by PCTs, despite positive feedback from patients.
However, smoking cessation services offered by GPs in Surrey remain unaffected.
As a pharmacist or pharmacy manager do you think this could be a long term detrimental issue? Do you think this would affect a patient’s health and pharmacy profits? As a pharmacist in Surrey or not, how do you feel about this? Please leave a comment below.