NHS wastes millions on smokers who fail to quit

The NHS faces accusations that it wasted millions of pounds trying to help smokers to quit.

More than £7.5 million was spent on smoking cessation schemes in London last year. But new figures show a wide variation in the number of people who gave up after taking a four-week intensive course, with a city-wide success rate of 50 per cent.

According to data from the NHS Information Centre, the worst performing primary care trust was Croydon, where only 27 per cent of smokers gave up. Lambeth and Kensington and Chelsea had success rates of 31 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.

Elsewhere, other NHS trusts helped more than 60 per cent of smokers to quit - and in Hounslow 74 per cent beat their addiction.

Vanessa Bourne of the Patients Association said: "It's unacceptable that good practice isn't evident everywhere."

Croydon PCT said it had doubled the size of its Stop Smoking team and Kensington and Chelsea said its team had also expanded. Lambeth said it planned to offer patients more contact time with stop-smoking staff.

Treatments offered at clinics include nicotine patches and gum and drugs such as Champix and Zyban.