Wigan smokers still struggling to quit, even with aid

NHS Digital data shows 1,064 people on the NHS Stop Smoking Service in the area set a date to quit between April and December last year.

At follow-up meetings held a month later, 431 said they had given up – 41 per cent.

But the rate dropped to just 31 per cent when only counting those who confirmed this with a test to measure carbon monoxide levels in their bloodstream, which indicates tobacco use.

Someone is counted as having quit if they report that two weeks after their quit date they are no longer taking a puff.

The self-reported rate in Wigan was below the average of 51 per cent across England as a whole – this decreased to 36 per cent nationally for those tested.

There was a wide disparity between different areas – 83 per cent of smokers in Warrington, Cheshire, reported quitting compared to just 11 in Cumbria.

The charity Action on Smoking and Health said the variation in the support smokers can receive across the country “is not good enough”.

A spokeswoman for the group said: “All smokers deserve support to quit and for many it can make the difference between success and failure.

“However, good services need funding and national government has repeatedly cut the public health budget.

“We are now in the midst of a respiratory pandemic with the biggest impacts being felt by the most disadvantaged, and while local authorities are doing their best, if we’re to ensure that all smokers get the help they need, those cuts to the public health budget must be reversed.”

Wigan did not provide a figure for the cash allocated for stop smoking services in 2019-20. However, most councils recorded a drop in funding compared to 2014-15, the earliest period with comparable data. The programme usually includes support such as group therapy or one-to-one counselling, although these have been suspended due to the coronavirus.

Rachael Hodges, senior policy officer at the British Lung Foundation, said: “While face-to-face support has come to a halt due to Covid-19, many stop smoking services are continuing to provide support remotely. We’d urge anyone looking to quit to search online for NHS smoke-free to find support near them.”

In Wigan, a higher proportion of men said they successfully spurned cigarettes, with 43 per cent quitting compared to 38 of women.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said smoking rates were at a record low level of 14.4 per cent across the country.

She added: “However, we are not complacent and our ambition is for England to become a smoke-free society by 2030.”