Make 2024 the year you quit - join thousands quitting
This January a new stop smoking campaign launches to encourage smokers to quit. The campaign will focus on and further develop the theme started during the Stoptober campaign of 2023: “good things happen when you stop smoking”
We know that the new year is a time when many people start to think of making changes to improve their health and quitting smoking is one of the most important things you can do to bring immediate health benefits. The campaign imagery will highlight some of the key benefits of quitting, focusing not just on health but on the financial, social and personal gains to be made. For example, “You’ll have more money for other things”, “You don’t need 12 air fresheners” and “You’ll have more energy to keep up with the kids”.
So why is smoking still so important to address?
11.5% of people in BaNES currently smoke with 12.7% across the whole of England and recent evidence indicates that the decades long decline in smoking in England has virtually stopped since the COVID pandemic. This worrying trend suggests that whilst bigger numbers were quitting during the pandemic, this has been counteracted by a rise in young people taking up smoking particularly in the 18-24 age group. England along with Scotland and Wales has set an ambition to be Smokefree by 2023 which means reaching national smoking rates of 5% or less. On current predictions England is going to miss this ambition by nine years and more than double that for the most disadvantaged in society. Smoking is not a lifestyle choice it is an addiction: two in three people why try one cigarette go on to become daily smokers, the majority of whom will regret ever starting. But support is available so read on to find out more.
If you smoke the best thing you can do is quit and seek support to quit as we know that the combination of professional support and stop smoking aids boosts your chances of quitting by up to three times. If you work with service users or patients who smoke the best thing you can do as a health or care professional is to advise them that free support to quit is available and let them know where they can access this.
For smokers living or working in BaNES or with a BaNES GP they can be referred to the Community Wellbeing Hub through which they will receive support from one of our experienced and friendly advisors from the Specialist Stop Smoking team. The package of support includes six appointments providing behavioural support which can be delivered face to face, by telephone or video link combined with treatment in the form of Nicotine Replacement (eg patches, gum) on prescription. Our service also offers free vape starter kits to enable smokers to switch from tobacco use to a vape. We know this is one of the more effective ways of quitting smoking for adult smokers and there is a solid evidence base that vaping is much safer than smoking in the short and medium term. A national Government scheme will extend the offer of free vape kits in 2024 to both a wider range and a bigger number of smokers and it is hoped that this will see a boost to numbers quitting.
To make a referral to the Specialist Stop Smoking team please refer to the Community Wellbeing Hub at For Professionals | Bath and North East Somerset (communitywellbeinghub.co.uk).
For general queries please contact the Community Wellbeing Hub on 0300247 0050 or BATHNES.thehub@hcrgcaregroup.com.
The Specialist team also offers free training to health and care professionals to become Level 2 Stop Smoking Advisors and to deliver stop smoking interventions to service users or patients. In addition to Level 2 advisor training we offer free Very Brief Advice in Smoking Cessation training which is recommended for ALL health and care workers. This is a short focused bespoke session (20-30 minutes) and can be arranged to suit your organisation or team. For more information on training please contact the Community Wellbeing Hub on 0300 2470050 or BATHNES.thehub@hcrgcaregroup.com.