Excellence in Customer Focus – Physicians/Healthcare Professionals

Summary of work

Despite a significant drop in smoking prevalence over the past 30 years, smoking continues to be the single biggest cause of death and disease in the UK, with a significant cost burden to the NHS and to society as a whole. Following the recent structural changes in the NHS, commissioning of smoking cessation (SC) services is now the responsibility of Local Authorities. This presents a challenge for the stakeholders involved in delivering services: decision-makers are far more diverse, with different motivations and priorities, set within the country’s financial constraints. In response to this new environment, and in order to ensure the continued funding of SC services, Johnson & Johnson Limited developed a dynamic cost model to demonstrate to stakeholders the value of continuing to invest in SC. Through a collaborative process, the VISION model was created. The model, through the integration of local smoking and demographic data, allows the user to evaluate the implications (and cost savings) of different combinations of SC interventions to meet the needs of the locality. The VISION model surpassed its objectives and was widely praised and advocated among public health stakeholders.

Judges comments

This stood out as being different and used rather more innovative tactics. Good alignment with customer goals, backed by a tactical programme that made good use of the complex stakeholder environment, led to a change in behaviours.