NHS stop smoking services quarterly
Local Delivery Plan Standard, 2023/24 (Quarter 4)

About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents information on NHS Stop Smoking Services in Scotland and their progress towards their annual Local Delivery Plan (LDP) Standard. The LDP Standard for NHS Scotland in 2023/24 is to achieve at least 7,026 self-reported successful twelve-week quits through smoking cessation services in the 40% most deprived areas (60% in NHS Island Boards).

Main points

• During Q4 of 2023/24, NHS Scotland achieved 99% (1,736 quits out of 1,757) of the required quarterly LDP Standard.
• In the financial year 2023/24, NHS Scotland achieved 74% (5,185 quits out of 7,026) towards the required annual LDP standard

Bar graph of NHS Health Board performance against the LDP Standard.

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Scotland and NHS Board performance against the LDP Standard at end of Q4

• At the end of Q4, 2 out of 14 NHS Boards have met or exceeded their annual LDP Standard. NHS Board performance against their annual LDP Standard ranged from 39% to 128%.
• During Q4, individuals accessing non-pharmacy services were recorded as still not smoking after 12 weeks at a rate of 49% and individuals accessing pharmacy based services were recorded as still not smoking after 12 weeks at a rate of 22%.

Background

In July 2005 a national smoking cessation database was set up to capture data on people presenting to NHS services in Scotland for help to stop smoking. The database is designed to collect the national minimum dataset for smoking cessation services from all 14 NHS Boards in Scotland. The minimum dataset is the mandatory client information required for national monitoring purposes, developed by PATH (Partnership Action on Tobacco and Health).

From July 2014, information about service activity and outcomes from pharmacy services was recorded through the smoking cessation support tool available in the Pharmacy Care Record. This forms part of the minimum dataset. The smoking cessation minimum data set is electronically submitted from Pharmacy Care Record to the national smoking cessation database.

Figures are based on total quit attempts set during the year, rather than total number of people with a quit attempt, so could include repeat quit attempts for the same person. The LDP Standard changed in 2018/19 to exclude quit attempts in prisons, therefore comparisons of quit attempts prior to 2018/19 are based on different definitions and are not valid.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be December 2024.