The number of people who successfully quit smoking through NHS Stop Smoking Services stood at 337,054 during 2008/09, according to a report out today from The NHS Information Centre.

The survey showed 671,259 people set a quit date through the services in 2008/09, a decrease of one per cent (9,030) on 2007/08 (680,289), but an increase of 12 per cent (70,849) on 2006/07 (600,410).

At the four-week follow-up, 337,054 people had successfully quit (based on self-report), 50 per cent of those setting a quit date. This was a decrease of four per cent (13,746) on 2007/08 (350,800), but an increase of five per cent (17,334) on 2006/07 (319,720).

Other findings showed:

• Total expenditure on NHS Stop Smoking Services was £74 million, an increase of 21 per cent (£13 million) on the same period in 2007/08 (£61 million) and an increase of 44 per cent (£22 million) on the same period in 2006/07 (£51 million). The cost per quitter was £219 compared with £173 in the same period in 2007/08 and £160 in the same period in 2006/07. These figures do not include expenditure on pharmacotherapies.
• More women than men set a quit date in 2008/09 (357,339 compared with 313,920) and more women than men successfully quit (175,773 compared with 161,281), although the success rate of giving up smoking was slightly higher among men than women (51 per cent and 49 per cent respectively).
• Of those setting a quit date, success rates generally increased with age, from 39 per cent of those aged under 18, to 53 per cent of those aged 60 and over.
• Of the 18,928 pregnant women who set a quit date, 8,641 successfully quit (46 per cent). This was a decrease of 12 per cent on the 9,817 successful quitters among pregnant women setting a quit date in 2007/08.
• Among all clients setting a quit date, the majority (67 per cent) received only nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). A further 20 per cent received only varenicline (Champix), two per cent received only bupropion (Zyban) and less than one per cent received both NRT and bupropion. Five per cent of people setting a quit date did not receive any pharmacotherapy and the type of treatment was unknown for a further five per cent.

The NHS Information Centre's chief executive Tim Straughan said: “The report shows that fewer people successfully quit last year compared to 2007/08. However, 2007/08 saw the introduction of the ban on smoking in public places which would be expected to affect the number of quitters in that year.

“It is encouraging that more people quit smoking last year than in 2006/07, the year prior to the ban.”

The full report is at www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/sss0809

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. The NHS Information Centre is England's authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. It works with more than 300 health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researchers, regulators and policymakers in their work.

2. The NHS Information Centre also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.

3. Regional information is available from this publication.

4. This statistical report presents final results from the monitoring of the NHS Stop Smoking Services for the period April 2008 to March 2009. 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. There are weaknesses with this newly collected data as is common with new data collections, but rather than withhold this already useful dataset we have been releasing it labelled 'experimental statistics' over the course of the year. The report includes an assessment of the quality of these new data items. Overall there have been clear improvements in data quality throughout the year and we are seeking input from users to help improve it further.

5. Intervention setting refers to the location of the service used by the client, and includes stop smoking service, primary care and pharmacy settings. Intervention type alternatives include closed groups, open groups, one to one support and drop-in clinics.

6. Financial figures presented do not take into account inflation and are presented in cash terms only.

7. For media enquiries please call 0845 257 6990 or contact:

Fraser Woodward on 07983 629448 (fraser.woodward@ic.nhs.uk), Sarah Dahlgren on 0113 254 7272 (sarah.dahlgren@ic.nhs.uk).