National Smoke-free Pregnancy Incentives Scheme
Client: Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
Delivery Partner: Accenture
The Challenge
The Department of Health and Social Care commissioned the National Smoke-free Pregnancy Incentives Scheme to support pregnant women to quit smoking through financial incentives. The programme required rapid mobilisation across England, with consistent implementation, governance and operational support for NHS maternity services.
Our Approach
As the operational delivery partner, Plane Sailing worked alongside Accenture to design and implement the national operational model.
Our work included:
- Designing the national scheme pathway
- Supporting NHS providers through readiness and implementation
- Developing operational guidance, user resources and training
- Creating communications and engagement toolkits
- Leading stakeholder engagement across the NHS
- Providing implementation assurance and operational support
- Driving continuous improvement through insight and feedback
Impact
Within the first 12 months, we:
- Supported 80% of NHS maternity providers to successfully implement the scheme
- Designed and delivered a bespoke national digital platform for participant management and incentive administration
- Developed a comprehensive suite of operational guidance, standard operating procedures and user resources
- Established a national assurance and continuous improvement framework
- Helped create a consistent, scalable model for delivering smoke-free pregnancy incentives across England
Services Provided
Service Transformation • Digital Transformation • Programme Mobilisation • Workforce Development • Stakeholder Engagement • Operational Assurance
Greater Manchester Smoke-free Pregnancy Programme
Client: NHS Greater Manchester
The Challenge
Variation in local service delivery meant pregnant women experienced different levels of support depending on where they accessed care. NHS Greater Manchester wanted to establish a consistent, evidence-based smoke-free pregnancy pathway across the region.
Our Approach
Plane Sailing supported the development and implementation of Greater Manchester’s flagship Smoke-free Pregnancy Programme, bringing together maternity services across six NHS Trusts.
Our work included:
- Designing a standardised regional care pathway
- Developing implementation plans and governance
- Engaging and training more than 30 specialist midwives and Tobacco Dependence Advisors
- Leading the digital transformation of the service
- Working with technology partners to develop a bespoke digital platform
- Supporting operational delivery and continuous improvement
Impact
The programme successfully:
- Established a consistent smoke-free pregnancy pathway across six NHS Trusts
- Equipped a specialist workforce with the knowledge and confidence to deliver the service
- Reduced administrative burden through digital pathway management
- Improved data quality and reporting to support local decision-making
- Enabled patient tracking from referral through pregnancy and into the postnatal period
Services Provided
Pathway Design • Workforce Development • Digital Transformation • Behaviour Change • Programme Delivery
Treating Tobacco Dependency Digital Platform
Client: NHS Greater Manchester
The Challenge
Delivering tobacco dependency treatment within acute hospitals relied heavily on manual processes, making it difficult to manage referrals, monitor activity and report programme performance consistently.
Our Approach
Plane Sailing worked with NHS Greater Manchester and leading technology partners to design and implement a digital solution that transformed the delivery of acute tobacco dependency services.
Our work focused on:
- Mapping and redesigning clinical pathways
- Supporting digital service design
- Working alongside technology partners during platform development
- Engaging frontline clinical teams throughout implementation
- Developing reporting frameworks and operational processes
- Supporting adoption and continuous improvement
Impact
The digital platform helped:
- Replace paper-based and manual processes with streamlined digital workflows
- Reduce administrative burden for frontline teams
- Improve referral management and patient tracking
- Strengthen performance reporting and service intelligence
- Support more consistent delivery of tobacco dependency treatment across acute settings
Services Provided
Digital Transformation • Pathway Redesign • Service Improvement • Data & Reporting • Change Management