Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services in England - April 2014 to September 2014

England - April to September 2014^a

Outcomes

• 207,883 people set a quit date through NHS Stop Smoking Services and at the 4 week follow-up 103,899 people had successfully quit (self-reported)^b, 50 per cent of those setting a quit date.

   

• 70 per cent of successful quitters (self-reported)^b had their results confirmed by Carbon Monoxide (CO) verification^c.

   

• Of those setting a quit date, success increased with age, from 41 per cent of those aged under 18, to 56 per cent of those aged 60 and over.

   

• Of the 9,251 pregnant women who set a quit date, 4,216 successfully quit (self-reported)^b (46 per cent). Of these 60 per cent had their results confirmed by CO verification^c.
• Geographical Patterns

• Among the nine regions, Yorkshire and the Humber reported the highest proportion of successful quitters (self-reported)^b (55 per cent), whilst the North East reported the lowest success rate (43 per cent)^d.

   

• Of the 151 Local Authorities (LAs) who submitted data London Borough of Waltham Forest Council reported the highest proportion of successful quitters (self-reported)^b (82 per cent) followed by Peterborough City Council (79 per cent). In contrast, Manchester City Council reported the lowest success rate (23 per cent) and the next lowest was Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council (28 per cent)^d.
• Treatment and Expenditure

• One-to-one support (168,123) was the most widely used Intervention Type and had a success rate of 49 per cent. Whilst telephone support was used by far fewer quitters (5,353) but had the highest success rate at 58 per cent^d.

   

• General practice was the most common Intervention setting with 78,327 people setting a quit date and 36,629 (47 per cent) successfully quitting. A Workplace setting was used by 1,229 people setting a quit date but had the highest success rate (62 per cent) with 762 people successfully quitting^d.

   

• The most common pharmacotherapy received for those setting a quit date was a combination of licensed Nicotine Containing Products (NCP) concurrently (30 per cent). This compares to 29 per cent who received a single NCP only, 26 per cent who used Varenicline (Champix) only and 4 per cent who received another type of pharmacotherapy. 6 per cent of people setting a quit date did not receive any pharmacotherapy and the type received for the remaining 5 per cent was not known.

   

• There were differences in the proportion successfully quitting by the type of pharmacotherapy received. 65 per cent of those who received an unlicensed NCP successfully quit. This compares to 62 per cent of those who received a licensed medication and an unlicensed NCP consecutively, 60 per cent of those who received Varenicline (Champix), 56 per cent of those who received a combination of a licensed medication and an unlicensed NCP concurrently, and 56 per cent of those who used Bupropion (Zyban) only.

   

• 60 per cent of people setting a quit date (123,900) were eligible to receive free prescriptions and 57 per cent of successful quitters (59,004) were eligible. This gave a success rate of 48 per cent for those eligible to receive free prescriptions.

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Footnotes
a Not all local authorities returned all data items. No estimates have been made for missing data so national and regional totals presented here will be an underestimate. See the data quality note for more information.
b A client is counted as a 'self-reported 4-week quitter' if when assessed 4 weeks after the designated quit date, they declare that they have not smoked, even a single puff on a cigarette, in the past two weeks.
c Carbon Monoxide (CO) validation measures the level of carbon monoxide in the bloodstream and provides an indication of the level of use of tobacco: it is a motivational tool for clients as well as validation of their smoking status. CO validation should be attempted on all clients who self-report as having successfully quit at the 4-week follow-up, except those who were followed up by telephone.
d Note that these are not standardised rates.
e Manchester City Council have the lowest quit rate (23 per cent) whilst having the second highest number of people setting a quit date (4,939). Other Local Authorities with a comparable number of people setting a quit date have a quit rate close to the England figure of 50 per cent. Whilst these figures have a negligible effect on national totals they should be used with caution by any users interested in the LA level tables in this report