Publication, Part of Statistics on Local Stop Smoking Services in England
Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services in England - April 2021 to March 2022
Official statistics
Addition of data quality note
We have been made aware of a data quality issue affecting the breakdown of pharmacotherapy data for Kirklees LA. Whilst the overall number of people setting a quit date and the number of successful quitters is correct, the breakdown is incorrect. This will also affect the England and Yorkshire and the Humber region data as well for these breakdowns (included in Part 3 and tables 4.4 & 4.5 within the supporting data tables).
12 January 2023 17:00 PM
Part 3 - Prescriptions and Pharmacotherapy
Prescription Items
This section presents information on the number of prescription items used to help people stop smoking, using Prescription Analysis and Cost (PACT) data, which are accessed from NHS Prescription Services.
The Net Ingredient Cost (NIC) is the basic cost of a drug as listed in the Drug Tariff or price lists; it does not include discounts, dispensing costs, prescription charges or fees.
There are 3 main pharmacotherapies prescribed for the treatment of smoking dependence in England: Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), Bupropion (Zyban) and Vareniciline (Champix).
The number of prescription items dispensed in England in 2021/22 was 491,293, compared to 2.6 million in 2010/11. Since then, this number has decreased annually.
In 2021/22, 374,169 items of NRTs were dispensed, up from 335,805 in 2020/21, and less than a quarter of the total in 2010/11 (1.5 million).
70,235 items of Varenicline were dispensed in 2021/22, compared with 986,796 items in 2010/11.
Bupropion is the least common item, with 46,889 dispensed in 2021/22, an increase from 20,925 in 2020/21.
Cost of prescription items
The Net Ingredient Cost (NIC) of all prescription items used to help people quit smoking was £15.3 million in 2021/22.
This is less than a quarter of the total in 2010/11 when the NIC of all items was £65.9 million.
Average NIC per item
The average NIC per item for all pharmacotherapy items was £31 in 2021/22.
The average per item was £37 for Bupropion, £37 for Varenicline and £29 for NRT.
Free prescriptions
A substantial proportion of those setting quit dates were eligible to receive free prescriptions from the NHS.
Number of quit attempts
108,001 people eligible to receive free prescriptions set a quit date in 2021/22. This has been steadily declining since the peak of 464,632 in 2011/12.
Self-reported quit rate
The self-reported quit rate in 2021/22 is 54% which is lower than 2020/21 (57%) but significantly higher than previous reporting years which had rates ranging from 46% to 50%.
Pharmacotherapy
This section breaks down those setting a quit date by the type of pharmacotherapy used during their quit attempt. Patients can receive a variety of different treatments, including NCPs (Nicotine containing products), Bupropion/Varencicline only or any combination of licensed/unlicensed NCPs.
Note: due to incorrect data being submitted for Kirklees for the number of people setting a quit date and successful quitters by pharmacotherapy treatment type, the counts and percentages in the charts in this section may be inaccurate. However, the overall number of people setting a quit date and the number of successful quitters is correct.
Number of quit attempts
‘Combination of licensed NCPs concurrently’ had the highest number of quit attempts (72,416), followed by 'Single NCP only' (42,817).
Self-reported quit rate
‘Combination of a licensed medication and an unlicensed NCP concurrently’ had the highest self-reported quit rate (67%). Other therapies varied between 67% for ‘Licensed medication and an unlicensed NCP consecutively’ and 43% for ‘Pharmacotherapy not known’.
Last edited: 12 January 2023 4:56 pm