Tobacco use: smoking cessation

PHS publish smoking cessation analyses based on the national minimum dataset for NHS Stop Smoking Services in Scotland. Further details on Scotland’s National Smoking Cessation Database and the national monitoring of NHS smoking cessation services in Scotland are available on the PHS (previously ISD) website.

Key findings from the latest annual national monitoring analyses produced by PHS, on an annual and quarterly basis, are provided below. The annual report provides an analysis of uptake and outcomes of smoking cessation services for 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022. For access to the annual Stop Smoking Service statistics or quarterly performance figures against the latest Local Delivery Plan (LDP) standard dashboards, please navigate to the relevant dashboard via PHS’s Stop Smoking website.

Quit attempts in 2021/22

• In 2021/22, the number of attempts to stop smoking made with the help of NHS smoking cessation services fell for the tenth consecutive year to 31,359. This is a 0.9% reduction from 2020/21 and a 74.2% reduction from when the number of quit attempts were at their peak in 2011/12. There are a number of factors which can influence the use of NHS smoking cessation services; these could include the use of electronic cigarettes and a reduction in smoking prevalence. Also, it is important to note that the statistics being reported for 2020/21 and 2021/22 correspond to the period when Scotland was facing the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, smoking cessation services changed their service delivery model. This included stopping both face-to-face appointments and verifying quits using carbon monoxide monitor validation. Therefore, caution should be applied when comparing results from 2020/21 and 2021/22 to those for previous years.

Success of quit attempts in 2021/22

• In 2021/22, of those making a quit attempt 44.6% (13,990) reported that they were still not smoking at four weeks. This figure fell to 28.7% (8,992) at twelve weeks.
• Of the 13,990 self-reported four-week quits, 528 (3.8%) were validated as not smoking through carbon monoxide testing, 236 (1.7%) were confirmed as smoking, while for 13,226 (94.5%) had no carbon monoxide reading taken or the result was unknown. It should be noted that CO tests dropped markedly during the COVID-19 pandemic, which reflects the changes services made to adapt their protocols to make them COVID-19 safe. Therefore, the reduction in CO testing which was observed in 2021/22 should not be overinterpreted.

Performance against the Local Delivery Plan Standard

• In the financial year 2021/22, NHS Scotland achieved 78.3% (5,498 out of 7,026) of the required annual LDP Standard.
• Three out of fourteen NHS Boards met or exceeded their annual LDP Standard during the financial year 2021/22. NHS Board performance against their annual LDP Standard ranged from 44.4% to 149.1%.