Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services in England, April 2023 to March 2024 (Q4, Annual)

This section presents information on the number of prescription items used to help people stop smoking, using Prescribing Analysis and Costing Tool (ePACT) data, which are accessed from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA).

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).

Some supplies of Varenicline have been subject to a 'Supply Disruption Alert' from October 2021. This is likely to have impacted the numbers of prescribed items. Further information can be found here: https://www.ncsct.co.uk/publications/Champix_alternatives_2021

The number of prescription items dispensed in England in 2023/24 was 388,256, compared to 1.8 million in 2013/14. Since 2013/14, this number has decreased annually.

In 2023/24, 373,879 items of NRTs were dispensed, an increase from 2022/23 (361,619). The figure for 2023/24 is similar to that of 2021/22 (374,169). The number of NRTs prescribed was trending downwards until 2019/20. However, since 2020/21, the total NRTs prescribed via the Stop Smoking Service has varied between about 336,000 and 379,000 NRTs prescribed.

Varenicline is now the least common item. 73 items of Varenicline were dispensed in 2023/24. This is a large reduction since 2021/22 when 70,235 items were prescribed. Since 2020/21, there has been a 99.9% reduction in the number of Varenicline prescriptions. This is likely due to the 'Supply Disruption Alert', which may have impacted the numbers of prescribed items. Further information can be found here: https://www.ncsct.co.uk/publications/Champix_alternatives_2021

There has been a sharp decrease in the Bupropion prescriptions, with 15,304 prescriptions in 2023/24. This contrasts with the previous trend which showed an increase between 2020/21 (20,925) and 2022/23 (50,709).

Bupropion and Varenicline prescriptions are at their lowest since 2013/14. 

The Net Ingredient Cost (NIC) of all prescription items used to help people quit smoking was £12.7 million in 2023/24. This is similar to the cost in 2022/23.

The cost for this financial year is about a quarter of the total in 2013/14 when the NIC of all items was £48.8 million.

A substantial proportion of those setting quit dates were eligible to receive free prescriptions from the NHS. This section breaks down those eligible to receive free prescriptions from the NHS by number of quit attempts and self-reported quit rate.

Number of quit attempts

The number of people eligible to receive free prescriptions setting a quit date was 111,198 in 2023/24. This continues the slight increase from 106,512 seen since 2020/21. Prior to 2020/21, there had been a steady decline from 331,616 in 2013/14.

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.

Number of quit attempts

Those using a combination of licensed NCPs concurrently had the highest number of quit attempts (87,715). This is over double the next highest group, which is those using single a NCP only (38,612).