Saturday 22 August 2009

Spending More, Getting Less….

That’s government healthcare for you:
The NHS is spending more money helping people stop smoking - but fewer are quitting, say official figures.

The cost per quitter was £219 in 2008/09 compared with £173 in 2007/08 and £160 in 2006/07.
Which I’m guessing can’t be covered just by inflation?

Well, since one of the main methods for giving up is left out of these figures, I’m guessing that’s ‘No’:
The proportion of people successfully quitting last year went down four per cent. But spending went up 21 per cent last year to £74m - not including the cost of nicotine replacement therapy.
Why not include it?
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5 comments:

  1. Henry North London 2.022 August 2009 at 14:25

    Yet the solution to people smoking costs pennies and is a regular vitamin which helps with the cravings

    They dont tell you that of course because then their quango means nothing

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  2. Leg-iron22 August 2009 at 16:31

    They leave out the cost of the patches because the patches cost more than tobacco.

    I've looked at them during my occasional thoughts of 'maybe I shouldn't smoke so much' but then it's cheaper just to buy the baccy...

    ...plus, they're still nicotine. You're still hooked, but without the actual smoking and on a more expensive product.

    Since nicotine comes from tobacco, the profits go to the same place anyway.

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  3. Mark Wadsworth22 August 2009 at 17:55

    I'd have thought that's a blindingly obvious example of diminishing returns. You can wean off an occasional or social smoker with a small bribe; a non-committed smoker with a larger bribe; but to get hard-core smokers like me to stop you'd have to offer about £100 per day of abstinence.

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  4. James Higham22 August 2009 at 20:08

    ... or convince you of the dangers, Mark. Not a likely prospect, granted.

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  5. JuliaM23 August 2009 at 06:38

    "Yet the solution to people smoking costs pennies and is a regular vitamin which helps with the cravings.."

    Ahh, but nothing costs just pennies when the 'Simple Shopper' gets involved.

    "You're still hooked, but without the actual smoking and on a more expensive product."

    So, it's methadone for smokers? ;)

    "I'd have thought that's a blindingly obvious example of diminishing returns."

    Very little seems to be blindingly obvious to the NHS though. Or any other large govt department...

    ReplyDelete