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Digital

Publication, Part of

Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services - England, April 2008 to December 2008, Q3, Quarterly report

Official statistics
Publication Date:
Geographic Coverage:
England
Geographical Granularity:
Regions, Local Authorities
Date Range:
01 Apr 2008 to 31 Dec 2008

Summary

Note:

An error was identified in Table 6 of these National tables. As part of the process to thoroughly quality assure the rest of the publication, two further errors were found. These affect Table 9 in the National tables, Table 6 in the SHA tables and Table 3 in the PCT tables. None of the errors affect any key national figures. These errors have now been rectified.

In Table 6 of the National tables the number of successful quitters per 100,000 population for England has been amended.

In Table 9 of the National tables and Table 6 of the SHA tables, the data submitted by one PCT for NS-SEC (socio-economic classification) was incomplete. The numbers and corresponding percentages in the 'unable to code' category have been amended.

A percentage in Table 3 of the PCT tables was incorrect. Other columns in this table were unaffected. Here a mistake was made when suppressing unsafe cells.

Please see tables for details of amendments.

Summary:

This quarterly report presents provisional results from the monitoring of the NHS Stop Smoking Services (NHS SSS) in England during the period April to December 2008.

This report includes information on the number of people setting a quit date and the number who successfully quit at the 4 week follow-up.

It also presents more in depth analyses of the key measures of the service including pregnant women; breakdowns by ethnic groups and type of pharmacotherapy received; regional analyses at Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and Primary Care Trust (PCT) levels. This release also sees the inclusion of more detailed PCT results for the first time.

In 2008/09 there have been new data items added to the collection. This includes data for the number of people setting a quit date and the number who successfully quit at the 4 week follow-up categorised by socio economic classification, eligibility to receive free prescriptions, intervention setting and intervention type.

This bulletin reports on these newly collected data items. However there are weaknesses with this newly collected data as is common with new data collections within their first year, but rather than withhold this already useful dataset we are releasing it labelled 'experimental statistics' and are seeking input from users to help us improve it.

Highlights

The key results show that in England during the period April to December 2008:

  • 414,208 people set a quit date through NHS Stop Smoking Services, a decrease of 15 per cent (73,057) on the same period in 2007/08 (487,265), but an increase of 11 per cent (39,416) on the same period in 2006/07 (374,792)
  • at the 4 week follow-up 205,810 people had successfully quit (based on self-report), 50 per cent of those setting a quit date. This is a decrease of 17 per cent (41,984) on the same period in 2007/08 (247,794), but an increase of seven per cent (13,283) on the same period in 2006/07 (192,527)
  • 66 per cent of successful quitters at the 4 week follow-up had their results confirmed by CO verification1. This percentage was 60 per cent for the same period in 2007/08 and 63 per cent for the same period in 2006/07
  • of those setting a quit date, success at the four week follow-up increased with age, from 34 per cent of those aged under 18, to 58 per cent of those aged 60 and over
  • of the 12,446 pregnant women who set a quit date, 5,505 successfully quit at the four week follow-up (44 per cent)
  • the majority of those setting a quit date received Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) only (66 per cent). A further 21 per cent received varenicline (Champix) only, 2 per cent received bupropion (Zyban) only, 1 per cent received both NRT and varenicline and less than 1 per cent received both NRT and bupropion. 5 per cent of people setting a quit date did not receive any pharmacotherapy and the type of treatment was unknown for a further 5 per cent
  • varenicline was the most successful pharmacotherapy in helping people quit, with 60 per cent successfully quitting at the four week follow-up, compared with 50 per cent who received bupropion only, 47 per cent who received NRT, and 49 per cent who did not receive any pharmacotherapy
  • total expenditure on NHS Stop Smoking Services was £51 million, an increase of 26 per cent (£10 million) on the same period in 2007/08 (£41 million) and an increase of 43 per cent (£15 million) on the same period in 2006/07 (£36 million). The cost per quitter was £249 compared with £165 in the same period in 2007/08 and £187 in the same period in 2006/07. These figures do not include expenditure on pharmacotherapies
  • among Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs), the East Midlands SHA reported the highest proportion of successful quitters (57 per cent), while the North East reported the lowest success rate (45 per cent)
  • among Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT reported the highest proportion of successful quitters (69 per cent), while Croydon PCT reported the lowest success rate (22 per cent)

1Carbon Monoxide (CO) verification measures the level of carbon monoxide in the bloodstream and provides an indication of the level of use of tobacco.

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Last edited: 22 March 2022 1:27 pm