About the SCaH Organisers

Planning for the first Smoking Cessation and Health UK conference was initiated back in 2019 by Heidi Croucher who was saddened by the loss of a dedicated UK meeting point for professionals working in smoking cessation and related services.  While the UK has taken a global leadership position on tobacco control and continues to make bold in-roads to drive down smoking prevalence and the associated death and disease burden, it is clear that there is still considerable work to do.

If we are to achieve the UK’s Smokefree 2030 ambition and lower smoking prevalence to 5% of the population, it is vital that we reach further in to different communities and move smoking cessation and prevention to the top of the health agenda.  To do this, we need to utilise all tools available, share our experiences and challenge inequalities in provision.

Smoking Cessation and Health is a collaborative project and has brought together like minded people and professionals to develop the event and build a homeland for the smoking cessation community.  We are grateful for the time and commitment from our informal steering board and thank them for their dedication and support to grow the SCaH community for all.

Tobacco industry declaration

The UK is a party to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and so has an obligation to protect the development of public health policy from the vested interests of the tobacco industry. As SCaH is a health conference attended by government employees no sponsors or speakers will be allowed to attend if they have any direct or indirect links to, or receive funding from, the tobacco industry. Those who work for the tobacco industry or tobacco industry owned companies will not be allowed to attend as delegates.

Hilary Wareing

Director of iPiP

Improving Performance in Practice

Hilary has a background in health service research and management as well as a clinical background in general nursing, midwifery and health visiting. Hilary’s main areas of interest are developing the wider public health workforce and supporting organisations to implement evidence-based practice and improve performance in practice. She is particular interested in using an asset-based approach in the development of public health initiatives and in gaining and maintaining compliance with public health policies and legislation. The areas of work she is currently involved in includes utilising the understanding of organisational culture to improve performance in maternity setting, using storytelling to improve staff engagement plus developing and applying sector led improvement tools to support the commissioning and delivery of public health interventions. Hilary led the development of babyClear, an evidence based whole-systems approach converting the evidence and guidance into practice that and is involved in the implementation of the NHS Long Term Plan in secondary care and mental health settings. She also has an interest in fuel poverty and is currently the Principal Investigator for a study focused on understanding the level of environmental carbon monoxide exposure during pregnancy. Hilary is a member of the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge group, an Expert Advisor for the NICE Centre for Guidelines, a member of the ASH Advisory Council and the All Party Parliamentary CO Group’s (APPCOG) Healthcare Sub-Group and acts as an expert advisor to WHO Europe.

Dr Debbie Robson, RMN, PHD

Senior Lecturer in Tobacco Harm Reduction

King's College London

Debbie Robson RMN, PhD. Senior Lecturer on Tobacco Harm Reduction & Mental Health Nurse, King’s College London Debbie works with the Nicotine Research Group in the National Addiction Centre.  Her work involves evaluating tobacco dependence treatment pathways in mental health, substance use and acute settings, and also assessing the effectiveness and harms of vaping in young people and those with mental health problems. She is a co-author of several annual evidence reviews about vaping, commissioned by PHE/OHID and is a Trustee of ASH.

Heidi Croucher

Dorset Integrated Care System Treating Tobacco Dependency Programme Manager

Public Health Dorset

Heidi is the Founder and Lead Convenor of SCAH – this annual national conference that brings professionals together with an interest in smoking cessation to share the latest evidence based research and practices. Qualifying with a first class honours Bachelor of Science in 1999 Heidi has over 22 years midwifery experience with 9 of these specialising in tobacco control across Dorset. From 2014 Heidi implemented and led the ‘award winning’ Smoking in Pregnancy Service within University Hospitals Dorset.  In 2018 Heidi was head hunted by Public Health Dorset to lead ‘smokefree pregnancy’ projects, and more recently ‘treating tobacco dependency’ within secondary care programmes across the region’s Integrated Care System. Heidi has also proactively been the Regional Smoking in Pregnancy Champion for the National Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group. For the past 10 years Heidi has shown true dedication to her branch Royal College of Midwives by working in the role of a Union Learning Representative and her passion for conference organising, running learning events and networking opportunities is what brought SCAH into fruition in 2019.

Martin Lever

Tobacco Reduction Programme Manager

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Joint Lead Convenor - Martin graduated with a first in Environmental Sciences from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1998. He has worked in tobacco control since 2006, managing services in acute, community and mental health settings. Presently, he is the Tobacco Reduction Programme Manager at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust where he is mobilising acute and mental health smoking cessation and harm reduction pathways. A behaviour change clinical specialist, Martin has a strong interest in evolving the frontiers of smoking cessation practice and interventions, particularly when working with marginalised and deeply entrenched smokers. Twitter @QuitTobaccoSom

Amanda Strange

Owner

The E-Cigarette Summit/Smooth Events

Amanda Strange is the owner and founder of Smooth Events, a specialist event management and marketing company with a proven track record of producing high level conferences and events within the scientific, environmental, public health and human rights field.  Amanda conceived of and launched The E-Cigarette Summit in 2013 at The Royal Society in London at a critical point in history when both public health experts and regulators were negotiating the TPD (European Tobacco Products Directive) and grappling to understand a consumer driven product that was on an unprecedented growth trajectory.  The Summit welcomes over 300 delegates each year and a Washington Summit was added to the portfolio in 2016.  Amanda is delighted to support the Smoking Cessation and Health Conference, to facilitate the sharing of best practice and new initiatives in reducing the burden of smoking related death and disease.

Louise Ross

New Nicotine Alliance

Vice Chair

Louise Ross retired in 2018 as the manager of the Leicester, England, Stop Smoking Service, but continues to be active in tobacco harm reduction. The Leicester stop smoking service was the first in the country to go ‘ecig-friendly’ on No Smoking Day 2014. She now works as Business Development Manager for the Smoke-Free app Smoke Free – Quit Smoking Now which includes managing the expert team of advisors who offer live on-demand support to smokers who want to quit, whether this is with traditional products, vaping, novel nicotine products or no products at all. She also works as a freelance consultant for the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training NCSCT where many stop-smoking and tobacco harm reduction resources can be found (see the NCSCT YouTube channel). Louise is the Chair and Mental Health Lead for the New Nicotine Alliance Home – New Nicotine Alliance UK.


   

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