Nearly 22,000 Bay of Plenty smokers have received quitting advice from their GPs in the past year, surpassing the national health target for the first time.

The Ministry of Health's Better Help for Smokers to Quit target is part of the government's drive towards making New Zealand Smokefree by 2025.

Close to 22,000 people received advice around quitting smoking in the Bay of Plenty.

It states 90 per cent of enrolled patients who smoke and are seen by a health practitioner in general practice should be offered advice to quit smoking.

'The Bay of Plenty District Health Board and its three primary health organisation partners have achieved the target for the first time, with a result of 94 per cent,” says BOPDHB planning and funding population health portfolio manager Brian Pointon.

Brian congratulates general practice health professionals for their hard work and progress against the target.

'Their collective efforts will lead to fewer people smoking and improved health outcomes for the rest of their lives,” he says.

'This excellent result is a culmination of steady improvement over a few years rather than a one-off surge that may not be sustainable. What it means is that more people are being given the advice which can lead to quitting.”

Of the 21,686 patients who were given brief advice to quit in the 12 months to September 30, a third of those - 6,751 patients - were supported to begin an actual quit attempt with a smoking cessation specialist service or via nicotine replacement therapy.

The BOPDHB was one of only eight out of 20 district health boards across the country to achieve the target.

'This is a strong result given the traditional increase in acute presentations during the winter months and is the highest quarter one result since the target began,” says the Ministry of Health's deputy director-general policy Don Gray.

Ongoing increasing ED presentation numbers saw 12,754 patients presenting at Tauranga Hospital in July-September 2014. This figure was 16 per cent higher than the same period two years ago.