Stopping smoking can make a drastic improvement to your lifestyle and health in ways you might not expect. Once you stop smoking, some of the benefits are immediate and some are longer-term.
Most smokers want to stop but quitting is hard. Many people make several attempts before they succeed. It’s even harder when people are dealing with stress in their lives.
To improve their chances of quitting, all smokers need:
- effective services and therapies
- supportive social networks
- smoke free environments
Local stop smoking services offer the best chance of success. They are up to 4 times more effective than no help or over the counter nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). However, the number of people using these services is falling. Around 450,000 people set a quit date through stop smoking services from April 2014 to March 2015. Instead, most smokers use the quitting methods with the least evidence of effectiveness.
Stop smoking services need good referral routes. Health professionals, such as GPs, midwives, pharmacists, dental teams and mental health staff are often well placed to refer smokers to these services. Services also need to be responsive to local needs and targeted to provide the right support to the people who need it most. For example, people with mental health problems may need higher doses of NRT and more intensive behavioural support than the general population.
If you are keen to discuss this further please contact the surgery and we will arrange for you to see our practice nurse who supports people to stop smoking in surgery.