NHS failing to meet target for helping smokers quit, new figures show
The NHS in Scotland is failing to meet its target for the numbers of smokers helped to quit, new figures have revealed.
Data from Public Health Scotland (PHS) showed that that in the first six months of 2024-25, only 37% of the annual target had been achieved.
The target is for 7,026 successful quit attempts to have been made over the course of the year, with people deemed successful if they are still not smoking after 12 weeks.
That same target was not met in 2023-24, when there were 5,196 successful 12-week quits reported.
The latest PHS statistics showed that by the end of September last year – halfway into 2024-25 – 2,616 quits had been recorded, meaning 37% of the annual target had been achieved.
Only two of 14 NHS boards – NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde – are currently on target to meet their annual target, the figures showed.
In the period July to September alone NHS Scotland achieved less than three quarters (71%) of the quarterly target – with 1,256 quits recorded against a target of 1,757.
Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which is Scotland’s largest health board, had 413 quits recorded over this three-month period – but in Shetland there were none.
And the number of successful quits for July to September 2024 was up from the total of 1,207 recorded in the same period of 2023.
Commenting on the figures, public health minister Jenni Minto said: “We want to create a tobacco-free generation by 2034 and services to support quitting smoking are essential to this aim.
“It is encouraging to see an increase in quit attempts in this quarter compared to the same quarter in previous year, and we need to see this continue.
Ms Minto added: “We are working closely with the UK Government and other devolved nations on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. This will gradually increase the age of sale for tobacco products and create a tobacco-free generation.
“Services to support quitting smoking are essential to this aim.
“The Public Health Action Team on Smoking Cessation is working to ensure that all pregnant women across Scotland who are addicted to tobacco are able to access the support they need to stop.”