RBWM falls behind Slough in latest quit smoking figures
The Royal Borough recently scored lower than neighbouring Slough for the proportion of people successfully quitting smoking.
Use of stop smoking services is tracked by the NHS and recorded by local authority.
Figures look at how many people signed up, how many of those successfully quit, and how many drop out of the programme.
Numbers for the most recent quarter (three-month period) give a snapshot of how people are doing in each council area.
In it, Slough showed improvements on multiple markers compared to RBWM, though its historical record across the past year has been worse.
Across the year
A data set looking at a year-long snapshot (April 2024 to March 2025) showed 62 per cent of people (all ages and genders) quit smoking in RBWM.
Twenty-one per cent didn’t successfully quit and 16 per cent didn’t see the program through to the end.
This is significantly fewer than from last year, in which a sample showed closer to 25 per cent of people were dropping out of stop-smoking services.
In Slough, its year total was lower showing at 55 per cent of people successfully quitting and a quarter of people dropping out.
But in the last quarter, Slough’s quit rate was higher than RBWM’s across the board – sitting between 50 and 68 per cent for all age groups and genders.
By contrast, RBWM figures were more varied, ranging from 30 per cent to 59 per cent.
Men versus women
A significant gender disparity in quit rates continues across the country. Men generally do worse, and East Berks is no exception.
In the latest sample, the quit rate for women in RBWM is significantly higher – 62.5 per cent versus 42 per cent.
More than a quarter of men of all ages (about 27 per cent) dropped out of stop-smoking services in RBWM, whereas for women, it’s more than half that (11 per cent).
There was a lot less variation in Slough. The quit rate for men was 59 per cent, and 61 for women.
The most successful quitting group was women ages 60 and over (68 per cent).
The Royal Borough’s middle-aged men are also doing notably worse than in Slough, with a 48 per cent quit rate for the 45-29 age group, compared to 64 per cent in Slough.
Old versus young
Another important factor is age. The largest age group referred to the service in RBWM were 45–59-year-olds. Of these, 53 per cent of them were successful in quitting smoking.
But this group also saw the largest number of people referred to the stop-smoking service who didn’t even get past the first hurdle – setting a quit date. About a third of them didn’t.
The most successful quitting group in RBWM was the aged 60 and over group, which had a quit rate of 61 per cent.
Meanwhile, the least successful was the youngest group, the 18–34-year-olds, with a quit rate of half that, at 30 per cent.
This is one of the starker differences between RBWM and neighbouring Slough lately – twice as many, 61 per cent, managed to kick the habit last quarter in Slough.
What is the Borough doing to tackle smoking?
An RBWM spokesperson said the Borough ‘continues to improve its smoking cessation rates’.
They emphasised that their yearly figures from April 2024 to March 2025 ‘are in line with neighbouring authorities.’
These are ‘higher than the national average’ and continue on an upward trend, they said.
“Solutions for Health are commissioned to provide stop smoking services across Berkshire,” the spokesperson added.
“The Royal Borough receives the second-highest number of referrals in the county, despite receiving less funding than neighbouring authorities due to lower levels of deprivation.”
Further information on how to access supporting on stopping smoking can be found at www.smokefreelifeberkshire.com
