Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services - England, April 2007 to December 2007, Q3, Quarterly report

The NHS Information Centre for health and social care has published revised figures in Table 9 of the 3rd quarterly NHS Stop Smoking Services Bulletin for the 2007/08 collection year. This revision affects a small number of PCT figures but does not affect any national or Strategic Health Authority figures for this quarter. Other quarters in 2007/08 are also not affected. The change affects the published figures for the following Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in quarter 3:

In North West SHA:

• Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT
• Knowsley PCT
• Liverpool PCT
• Manchester PCT
• North Lancashire PCT
• Oldham PCT

In London SHA:

• Hammersmith and Fulham PCT
• Hillingdon PCT
• Hounslow PCT

The error arose from variations in the titles of PCTs being used on quarterly return forms. This impacted upon how the data was stored within our database and unfortunately wasn't detected by our established quality assurance procedures. Following a review, we have now adjusted our production and quality assurance processes to ensure that should this issue arise again, we would be able to detect it. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.

The key results show that in England during the period April to December 2007:

• 462,690 people set a quit date through NHS Stop Smoking Services, an increase of 23 per cent over the same period in 2006/07 and 17 per cent over the same period in 2005/06
• At the four-week follow-up 234,060 people had successfully quit (based on self-report), 51 per cent of those setting a quit date. This compares with 192,527 successful quitters in the same period in 2006/07 (an increase of 22 per cent), and 208,878 successful quitters in 2005/06 (12 per cent increase)
• Of those setting a quit date, success at the four-week follow up increased with age, from 37 per cent of those aged under 18, to 59 per cent of those aged 60 and over
• Of the 13,046 pregnant women who set a quit date, 6,556 successfully quit at the four-week follow-up (50 per cent)
• The majority of those setting a quit date received Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) only (72 per cent). A further 13 per cent received Champix (varenicline) only, four per cent received bupropion (Zyban) only and less than one per cent received both NRT and bupropion. Six per cent of people setting a quit date did not receive any smoking cessation aid and the type of treatment was unknown for a further five per cent
• Champix was the most successful smoking cessation aid in helping people quit. Of those who used champix 63 per cent successfully quit, compared with 54 per cent who received bupropion only, and 48 per cent who received NRT
• Expenditure on NHS Stop Smoking Services was £41.3* million. This compares to £36.0 million in the same period in 2006/07. The cost of the NHS Stop Smoking Services per quitter was £177*, compared with £187 during the same period in 2006/07
• Among Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs), the South East Coast SHA reported the highest proportion of successful quitters (56 per cent), while the North East SHA reported the lowest success rate (45 per cent)
• Among Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), East & North Hertfordshire PCT reported the highest proportion of successful quitters (82 per cent), while Croydon PCT reported the lowest success rate (27 per cent)

* Excludes data for Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT (July to September 2007) for Quarter 2.