Current services, local plans and strategies

Local stop smoking services (SSS) offer a very cost-effective approach to helping people stop smoking. SSS plays a key role in improving health outcomes and reducing health inequalities, as well as significantly improving the chances of quitting smoking permanently. Most smokers say they want to quit but without support, 75% of quit attempts end in a relapse in less than a year (source: Smoking cessation attempts and relapse: factors associated with success or failure of the ATTEMPT cohort study. Addictive behaviors).

To help people quit smoking in Buckinghamshire, Buckinghamshire Council Public Health has commissioned an integrated lifestyle service which provides free, evidence-based support to quit smoking. SSS have been running in Buckinghamshire since 2012. The service provides 12 weeks of behavioral support, as well as free access to quit smoking supports such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and starter kits for electronic cigarettes.

In the year 2020/2021, Buckinghamshire SSS helped 410 people to quit smoking. The trend is shown in the table below, with figures falling nationally, although at a faster rate in Buckinghamshire. Over the last 10 years, the absolute number of successful abandonments has fallen by 81% in Buckinghamshire, compared to 74% nationally. However, it is important to note, as the graphs below show, that the proportion of successful quits (among those who set a quit date) increased slightly nationally over the period and has fluctuated within Buckinghamshire, but remains above 50%.

Source: Statistics on NHS stop smoking services in England.

Source: Statistics on NHS stop smoking services in England.

As well as help with quitting smoking, the service can also offer help with a wide range of lifestyle issues (such as losing weight or becoming more active). Nationally, in 2020/21, more women than men set a quit date, but more men successfully quit smoking (62% compared to 57% for women). Smoking cessation rates were also higher among men and women aged 45 and older (63% and 60%, respectively). The dashboard is available on Microsoft Power BI.

Those who use an e-cigarette in combination with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) have had the highest success rates in quitting smoking.

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly changed the way people interact with SSS. More and more smokers wanted to access virtual support rather than attend the service in person. To accommodate this, the local SSS began offering remote appointments (by phone or video) and posting quit supports directly to clients. Despite this change in provision, there has been no reduction in dropout rates. Customers find the service easier to access because telephone support is often more convenient.

Buckinghamshire Tobacco Control Strategy – Towards a smoke-free generation (2019 – 2024) defines the local ambition to achieve a tobacco-free generation. This strategy aims to ensure that children and young people are discouraged from starting smoking, that all smokers in Buckinghamshire are supported to quit, and that the supply and demand for illicit tobacco is reduced. Particular attention is paid to the participation of communities where smoking rates remain high.

The strategy recognizes that everyone has a role to play in ensuring that tobacco-related harm is reduced in Buckinghamshire, whether in schools, in the workplace, in the community or within hospitals. The strategy provides a clear set of areas for action, which have been translated into an annual action plan developed through the Buckinghamshire Tobacco Control Alliance (TCA). The TCA is made up of a wide range of stakeholders, including the NHS sector and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE). All partners work together to achieve a common goal, and the TCA meets quarterly to discuss progress and plans.

To support the themes of the strategy, there is an annual TCA action plan, with partners working together to undertake wider tobacco control work in Buckinghamshire.

Some of the action plan work includes:

• develop and promote new local campaigns promoting smoke-free environments
  • smoke-free sidelines – ban on smoking at youth football matches
  • smoke-free parks and playgrounds
  • campaign on illegal tobacco highlighting the dangers to local communities
• help the NHS implement the NHS Long Term Plan for Tobacco Services
• promote media campaigns such as Stoptober (smoking ban for October)
• share information about e-cigarettes with schools and other professionals
• review workplace smoking policies