Aims High smoking rates and deprivation levels in North East of England led to an opportunity to pilot a tobacco dependency treatment offer for NHS Staff who smoke to make a supported quit attempt. The direct and indirect benefits to staff, patients, and NHS organisations are well documented. This study aimed to evaluate the acceptability of the service.

Methods The service included up to 12 weeks of free Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and/or a refillable e-cigarette, motivational support, and premium access to the Smoke-Free App. Service evaluation used a mixed-methods design, combining the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA) questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with staff who had accessed the offer. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data via thematic analysis.

Results 68 survey responses (Mage = 43.92 years, SD = 12.27; Gender = 27.9% M and 72.1% F) reflected high acceptability (M= 4.59, Mdn = 5.00, SD = 0.72). Eighteen interviews (Mage = 40.67 years, SD = 12.22; Gender = 38.9% M and 81.1% F) revealed four themes relating to service familiarity and ease of access, suitability of the NRT/e-liquid ordering service, the vape kit, and behavioural support.

Conclusions The service was deemed highly acceptable, and service users’ experiences informed recommendations for improving future tobacco dependency services. This is the first known application of the TFA to an evaluation of a smoking cessation intervention and contributes to a broader body of research on reducing tobacco dependence.

Authors CT, KBT, CR, EK, SR, and MRJA, have no conflicts of interest to declare. RM makes the following statement: I was part of the team that originally funded the initial independent evaluation.

This research was jointly funded by North East and North Cumbria ICB Tobacco Taskforce and Newcastle University and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria (NENC) (NIHR200173). Professor Eileen Kaner is Director of the NIHR ARC NENC (NIHR200173) and is also supported by an NIHR Senior Investigation Award (NIHR303885).

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The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

Ethical approval for the study was gained from Newcastle University ethics committee (reference: 31229/2022).

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Anonymous survey data (as an SPSS file) will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author. Interview data cannot be shared publicly due to transcripts containing potentially identifying material and, therefore, cannot be shared to protect the anonymity and privacy of participants.