Smoking Cessation: PQ: 2009

Smoking Cessation 2009

1 December 2009

  • Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken in forensic mental health service units to support individuals who wish to give up smoking. (S3W-29148)

    Shona Robison: NHS boards have a responsibility to ensure that all smokers who wish to give up smoking in forensic mental health service units have access to local smoking cessation services which provide required motivational support and should put in place arrangements for monitoring and evaluating success of their smoking cessation service. The Scottish Government does not hold centrally information on services provided in these types of units across Scotland.

    There are particular challenges in providing smoking cessation services in forensic mental health service units. The Partnership Action on Tobacco and Health, a partnership between ASH Scotland, NHS Health Scotland and the Scottish Government, launched in July this year, bespoke training for those providing smoking cessation services in mental health settings. In addition, the Scottish Government funded through ASH Scotland’s Tobacco and Inequalities Fund a project which established a stop-smoking service within The State Hospital. Although funding ended in 2007, the service has now been mainstreamed into general healthcare provision and continues to offer support to staff and patients alike.


21 July 2009

  • Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist NHS staff trained in delivering smoking cessation services there have been in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board and type of service. (S3W-25261)

    Shona Robison: A wide range of NHS staff are involved in the provision of smoking cessation services in Scotland. However, while the National Smoking Cessation Database (NSCD) set up by Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland captures information on people presenting to NHS services in Scotland for help to stop smoking, specific information on NHS staff trained in the delivery of such services is not held centrally.

    We are, of course, continuing to invest heavily both in the national network of cessation services which now exists in Scotland - some £39 million over the current spending period - and in providing training for those delivering smoking cessation services. Latest information released from the NSCD on 26 May 2009, indicates that this investment resulted in a record number of quit attempts, 50,121, in 2008 a 14% increase over 2007. Further details can be found on:
    http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5945.html.

19 June 2009

  • Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people using nicotine replacement therapy has successfully quit smoking after (a) six months and (b) a year. (S3W-24766)

    Shona Robison: Information on quit attempts made via NHS smoking cessation services is available from the agreed national minimum dataset for cessation services. The national smoking cessation database (the primary data collection mechanism) was established in July 2005.

    National monitoring is based on clients who set a "quit date"/make a quit attempt with a cessation service. This will not include persons referred to services or who make initial contact with a service, but who do not go on to set a quit date.
    Quit outcomes are monitored at one month, three months and 12 months after the client’s "quit date".

    The table below shows, for all quit attempts made using NHS cessation services in 2007 where the pharmacotherapy used was recorded as nicotine replacement therapy, the percentage of quit attempts successful at one, three and 12 months. Figures are based on client self-reported smoking status at each follow-up stage.

    Data are based on the 2007 calendar year as three and 12 month quit outcomes are not yet available for the full 2008 calendar year,

    Information is not available centrally on the quit outcomes of people using nicotine replacement therapy, but not attending NHS cessation services.

    Quit attempts1 made with NHS smoking cessation services in Scotland in 2007 using nicotine replacement therapy – successful quits (%)2 at one, three, and 12 months after "quit date".

     
    Total quit attempts made where pharmacotherapy used was recorded as nicotine replacement therapy  100%
     Successful quit at one month after ‘quit date’ (based on client self-reported smoking status)   39.7%
     Successful quit at three months after ‘quit date’ (based on client self-reported smoking status)  18.2%
     Successful quit at 12 months (based on client self-reported smoking status)  8.0%

Source: ISD Scotland National Smoking Cessation Database; Tayside Pharmacies Database, and Greater Glasgow and Clyde local information systems. Ref: IR2009-01363

Notes:
1. Figures are based on total quit attempts, rather than total number of clients with a quit attempt, so could include repeat quit attempts by the same client.
2. Quit attempts not recorded as ‘successful’ will include clients still smoking and clients "lost to follow-up"/smoking status unknown. Regarding eligibility for follow-up - all quit attempts are eligible for follow-up at one month after the "quit date", at the three month follow-up it is just those recorded as a successful quit at one month, and at 12 months it is all cases recorded as a successful quit at three months or "lost to follow-up"/unknown smoking status when followed up at three months.

 


12 June 2009

  • John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what methods it will use to help people stop smoking, be more active and eat more healthily, as stated in its news release of 7 May 2009 on its mental health improvement plan. (S3W-24469)

    Shona Robison: A number of initiatives are in place to support this work. The Scottish Government and NHS Health Scotland, in consultation with the Royal College of Psychiatry and National Schizophrenia Fellowship, will review current evidence-based approaches on smoking cessation, weight management and physical activity for those experiencing mental health problems. Based on findings, a suite of user and carer-led health information, tailored for people with mental health problems, will be provided.

    Integrated Care Pathways (ICPs) for Mental Health have a focus on Physical Health Assessment and Management. This requires a general physical health assessment and management of the findings to be recorded. Services should then be provided that address diet, nutrition, exercise, alcohol consumption, drug misuse and sexual health in ways that are responsive to the needs of service users. Boards are currently undergoing a system of accreditation to ensure they are developing and implementing ICP’s.

    The Scottish Recovery Indicator Tool, designed to assess practice against expected values in a range of mental health services, has just been launched. This includes a measure for health improvement.

3 June 2009

  • Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been treated for (a) tobacco addiction and (b) tobacco-related illnesses in each of the last five years in each hospital in the Lothians region. (S3W-24272)

    Nicola Sturgeon: Patients could be treated for tobacco-related illness in different hospital settings including accident and emergency (A&E), outpatients and acute inpatients and day cases. Information on A&E attendances and outpatients is not available as diagnosis information is not recorded on centrally held data. Limited information is available on inpatients and day cases.

    It is not possible from centrally available hospital data to explicitly identify patients who have been treated for tobacco addiction. There are a number of conditions (e.g. lung disease) which could be tobacco-related, but these could also be caused by other factors and would not present a reliable picture of tobacco misuse.

    The following table presents the number of discharges for patients aged 15 and under for conditions which specifically mention tobacco. It is not possible to provide data separately for individual years or broken down by hospital because of the risk of disclosure.

    Table 1. Number of Patients Aged 15 Years or Under, Discharged From General Acute Hospitals1,2 Within NHS Lothian Area of Treatment With a Tobacco-Related Illness3,4 In Any Position: 2003-04 – 2007-08
     
        2003-04 - 2007-08
    Lothian health board of treatment  11

Source: ISD Scotland (SMR01), Ref: 2009-01239.

Notes:
1. Excludes mental illness hospitals, psychiatric units and maternity hospitals. Transfers have also been excluded.
2. Figures in the table only relate to those individuals who are treated as inpatients. They do not include individuals managed as outpatients or individuals attending A&E who are not subsequently admitted.
3. Caution is necessary when interpreting these figures. The recording of tobacco misuse may vary from hospital-to-hospital. Where tobacco misuse is suspected but unconfirmed it may not be recorded by the hospital.
4. Diseases recorded using the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10). Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of tobacco (F17), toxic effect of tobacco and nicotine (T65.2).

6 May 2009

  • Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much addictions have cost NHS Lothian in each of the last three years. (S3W-23288)

    Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has directly provided the following funding to NHS Lothian for addiction related services over 2005-08.

    The figures in the table indicate, rounded up, how much the Scottish Government has allocated for addressing alcohol misuse, drugs misuse and the provision of smoking cessation services.
     
      Alcohol Drugs Smoking Cessation
    2006-07 £1,107,000 £4,645,000 £1,048,000
    2007-08 £1,132,000 £4,645,000 £1,311,000
    2008-09 £3,401,000 £4,821,000 £1,311,000

NHS Lothian spend larger sums on the downstream costs of addiction problems such as liver disease and oral cancer. However, this is not information the Scottish Government holds centrally.


Further information: