Dr Foster Intelligence | Case studies

In this section:

Success stories

We need to get a better insight as to why patients behave the way they do when it’s not cost effective or not the best use of the services we are commissioning.

Alan Higgins Director of Public Health

Delivering results in Manchester

Smoking is the single greatest cause of preventable illness and early death in the UK, according to the Department of Health. Each year, approximately 106,000 people die of smoking related diseases.(*)

The north-west has the highest number of smokers in England, accounting for about 1.5 million of the population. More than 3,000 people in the region die every year before the age of 64 because of diseases caused by smoking.

Solution

In 2007, the Association of Greater Manchester PCTs (AGMPCT) commissioned Dr Foster Intelligence to produce a social marketing programme aimed at reducing the prevalence of smoking and raising the profile of local stop smoking services across Greater Manchester.

Alan Higgins, director of public health at Oldham PCT, explained: "We wanted insight into why people continue to smoke and what we could offer to support them in quitting. We needed to do the research to understand the problems from the client’s point of view and then to commission the services appropriately. Unless you’ve done that kind of research, you are just acting on assumptions."

The research used workshops, focus groups and mystery shopping exercises to get the opinions of more than 3,000 people. The workshops examined the attitudes and behaviours of the participants towards smoking and smoking cessation services. One hundred people took part, with participants from each PCT, ensuring that a complete cross-section of local information was made available.

Directors of public health, smoking cessation leads, and specialist, pharmacy and GP smoking advisors were also invited to attend the workshops. Focus groups tested campaign materials.

In the mystery shopping exercise, smokers tested the available services and relayed their experiences afterwards. Higgins found this information to be a vital element of the campaign’s research.

"This [mystery shopping] was extremely valuable and probably the most interesting part. It highlighted a number of barriers that deter quitters from using or continuing to use the service.

"Smokers want easy access to a dedicated advisor who can give them advice about products; they want easy access to products and ongoing emotional support.

"Unless access is made very easy, people can very quickly be put off using the service."

The mystery shoppers identified several barriers to effective service provision. They were:

A lack of out-of-hours provision
Unwelcoming staff
Different venues for prescriptions and drugs
Negative ideas about the NHS, such as long waiting lists, unpleasant waiting areas and overstretched staff.

Outcome

The project team designed a local Quit-it campaign, which, in order to connect with national policy, was launched one week before the smoke-free legislation came into effect in July 2007.

The Quit-it campaign used a wide variety of advertising and marketing techniques to reach the PCTs’ chosen audience.

A Quit-it bus toured the region, offering on-site help, support and advice.

Ads were placed on bus tickets and in the local press. The team also ran radio ads, set up a dedicated Quit-it website, and reached more than 25,000 households through telemarketing.

The campaign generated more than 6,000 potential quitters, and 65 per cent of people who saw the Quit-it information said it prompted them to think about quitting.

As a result of the success, Higgins and his colleagues are now considering further work on other public health challenges.

"We need to get a better insight as to why patients behave the way they do," said Higgins, "when it’s not cost effective or not the best use of the services we are commissioning."

The PCTs are continuing their work to raise awareness and design services for local need by enhancing websites and SMS text services, as well as setting up regular forums as information exchanges between patients, the public and the local health services.

Tool

A targeted, bespoke communication and social marketing campaign.