Stoptober: start your stop smoking journey and quit smoking for good

Stopping smoking is one of the best things you can do to protect your health. Stoptober may have already started, but if you want to quit smoking, or know someone who does, it’s not too late to take the first step.

There are more than five million smokers in England. In mid and south Essex, 11.1 per cent of adults aged 18 and over smoke. It’s one of the three biggest health issues, alongside high blood pressure and eating unhealthy food. Smoking also leads to around 750,000 deaths a year, making it the biggest cause of preventable ill health and death.

This Stoptober, Dr Anita Pereira, GP at Laindon Medical Group and system clinical lead for Prevention, Personalisation, and Population Health Management at NHS Mid and South Essex, discusses how to start your stop smoking journey, the benefits of quitting and local support available.

What is Stoptober?

Stoptober is an annual, national campaign run by the Department of Health and Social Care. By joining other smokers committing to quit smoking this October, you are part of a large, supportive community. And if you make it to 28 days smoke-free, you’re five times more likely to quit for good.

How can stopping smoking benefit your health and wellbeing?

Smoking causes a lot of damage to your health. By stopping smoking, you can:

• reduce your risk of stroke, heart disease, several types of cancer (not just lung cancer) and respiratory problems such as asthma
• support your immune system, improve blood flow (circulation) and help your lungs work more easily
• improve your chances of getting pregnant and having a healthy pregnancy.

After just eight hours of stopping smoking, the oxygen levels in your blood start to improve and the carbon monoxide levels will have reduced by half. This means you’ll begin to have more energy. You’ll soon start to see your senses of taste and smell improve, and get better, more restful sleep.

Smoking is also expensive. On average, smokers spend around £2,338 on tobacco each year. And financially it doesn’t just affect you – it’s estimated to cost society £21.3 billion per year in England. In mid and south Essex, it costs the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Partnership – a partnership of local organisations including the NHS and councils – around £454 million each year. This includes smoking-related medical treatment, fire costs due to smoking and social care costs later in life.

Where can you get help to stop smoking?

There are free, local stop smoking support services depending on where you live or work:

• Essex Stop Smoking Service provides help via the Essex Wellbeing Service
• Southend Stop Smoking Service offers information through Everyone Health
• Thurrock Stop Smoking Service provides support with the Thurrock Health Trainer Service

There’s national help available too through the Better Health Quit Smoking website. It offers free quitting tools and resources including the NHS Quit Smoking app, Personal Quit Plan and tips on how to maintain a smoke-free life.

How can you stop smoking if you’re pregnant?

Kate Miles, Lead Midwife for Smoking Cessation at Basildon Hospital, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, guest stars in this blog to offer some advice on how to stop smoking if you’re pregnant.

At the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, we run an in-house Smoke Free Pregnancy Service. We offer free nicotine replacement, alongside behavioural therapy, supporting pregnant women to be smoke free throughout pregnancy and into the postnatal period.

Stopping smoking is the best thing you can do for a healthy pregnancy and for the health of your baby. Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of stillbirth, miscarriage, birth defects and babies being born too early and too small. Babies whose mums smoked during pregnancy are more at risk of developing:

• asthma
• obesity
• learning and behavioural difficulties
• have more frequent coughs and colds
• are three times more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome.

The referral process is simple. Your community midwife will discuss your smoking status at your booking appointment and an automatic referral will come through to our team. Or you can self-refer (visit the link below for more information).

When we receive a referral, we usually call within a couple of days, ask a few simple questions about your smoking habits and invite you in for a face-to-face appointment with one of our specially trained Maternity Smoking Support Workers.

We then discuss nicotine replacement options and set a quit date. You will have regular check-ins with the team on the phone and in-person to help you stay smoke free. The team is here to support you every step of the way.