NHS Quit Smoking

You may qualify for this service if you:

Important: This service is commissioned by NHS England and is only available to patients in England. It is not available in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, or outside the UK. The service requires a hospital referral. You cannot self-refer.

The programme consists of four consultation stages, each delivered via remote video consultation. Your clinician will provide ongoing behavioural support, monitor your progress, and prescribe medication as needed throughout.

Book this within 5 days of receiving your hospital referral. During this consultation, the clinician will:

With your consent, the clinician will inform your GP of the treatment prescribed. We recommend agreeing to this, as your GP is responsible for your overall care. The clinician may also offer advice on healthy living and practical guidance related to your therapy.

Stage 2: Interim Consultation (1 Week After Initial)

One week after your initial consultation, your clinician will:

Four weeks after your initial consultation, this is a key milestone. Your clinician will:

Why 4 weeks matters: Research shows that if you can stay smoke-free for 4 weeks, you are 5 times more likely to quit for good.

Twelve weeks after your initial consultation, your clinician will:

Follow these steps to book your initial consultation through NowPatient:

You do not need to track your follow-up dates yourself. NowPatient will send you reminders 7 days before each planned follow-up consultation via push and in-app notifications.

Your Stop Smoking Practitioner will recommend the most suitable option based on your medical history, previous quit attempts, nicotine dependence level, and personal preferences. Combination therapy (for example, patches plus a fast-acting product like lozenges or gum) may be recommended for heavier smokers.

24-hour patches:

16-hour patches:

Lozenges:

Gum:

Oral spray:

Inhalator:

Nasal spray:

Sublingual tablets:

If your clinician prescribes treatment during a consultation, follow these steps to checkout:

Order confirmed. You will see a confirmation screen and be redirected to your homepage.

If your clinician prescribes treatment during a consultation, follow these steps to checkout:

Order confirmed. You will see a confirmation screen and be redirected to your homepage.

The consultations and delivery are completely free. If your clinician prescribes medication and you are not exempt from NHS prescription charges, you will pay a single NHS prescription charge. If you are exempt (for example, you receive Income Support or are aged over 60), there is no charge at all. You will confirm your exemption status at checkout.

During the virtual consultation, we will ask for your consent to provide the service. This is required so we can communicate with your GP and share information with NHS England, NHS Improvement, and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) if needed.

NowPatient’s clinicians are board-certified pharmacists qualified to prescribe selected medications for smoking cessation, as outlined by the NHS.

Every clinician is registered with the appropriate regulatory body — for example, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). All clinicians undergo thorough background checks, including a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, and a comprehensive licence verification process.

When you book an appointment, you can view the clinician’s full name, licence number, and any specialist credentials.

The medications our clinicians can prescribe are strictly governed, risk-assessed, and regularly reviewed in line with NHS guidelines. The service is delivered via remote video consultations (synchronous consultations) to help ensure clinical safety and appropriate prescribing.

Please note: Medication is not guaranteed and is provided only at the discretion of the assessing clinician and based on NHS eligibility criteria.

As an NHS patient, our clinicians can access your GP record, including medications, observations, and investigations. This ensures they can assess you appropriately and make safe prescribing decisions.

Yes. The NHS Quit Smoking service is classified as a Class I medical device under UK MDR 2002 regulations for its intended use. It also complies with NHS standards DTAC, DCB 0160, and DCB 0129.

Yes. NowPatient operates from a HIPAA, DTAC, and Cyber Essentials Plus certified compliant platform. This ensures the highest levels of information security and allows us to safely handle Patient Health Information (PHI). Clinicians access our systems on a zero-trust basis, backed by single sign-on (SSO) technologies.

NowPatient’s pharmacists provide medication advice and counselling across all dispensing services. If you have any questions about your smoking cessation medication, our pharmacists are available to help.

We deliver to all postcodes in England. Some rural areas may experience slightly longer delivery times. Delivery is free for all NHS Quit Smoking orders.

All orders are shipped in discreet, unmarked packaging, suitable for delivery to your home, workplace, or a neighbour’s address. For temperature-sensitive items, we use cold chain-validated packaging to maintain product quality, safety, and efficacy. You will normally receive an estimated delivery window from the courier on the day of delivery.

First order restriction: For your protection, your first order can only be delivered to the address registered with NowPatient. Future orders can be delivered to any other address, such as your workplace.

We aim to dispatch all orders placed Monday–Friday before 3pm on the same day. Orders placed after 3pm or on weekends are dispatched the next working day. Deliveries are shipped by Royal Mail (Monday–Saturday).

You can check your tracking details in the ‘Notification Feed’ section of your dashboard at any time after dispatch. If your delivery has not arrived within 10 days of the dispatch

NowPatient keeps you informed at every stage. You will receive status update notifications through: