‘It’s never too late to quit’: Lancashire NHS Quit Squad helping people shake their smoking habit

Ready to combat this scourge and help those keen to relinquish the lighter quit is Lancashire NHS’s Quit Squad. A free service which is dedicated to supporting anyone over the age of 12 to stop smoking, the team provides advice, support, and treatment delivered by a specialist team of NHS advisors funded by Lancashire County Council.

“It is never too late to quit,” says Quit Squad Manager, Karen Rutter. “If you want to stop smoking we can support you to take the first step. You are three times more likely to quit with our support than going alone. [That’s why] we’re urging smokers to kick the habit once and for all and not only improve their health, but also the health of their friends and families.

“With the cost of living also on the rise, smokers can save money by quitting,” adds Karen. “Quit Squad are here to help you on your journey."

One of those helped on his journey is Mark, from East Lancashire. “I decided to quit smoking when my partner and I decided we were going to have a baby,” he says. “I’d tried to quit smoking before I joined Quit Squad loads of times and failed miserably every time. I chose Quit Squad because I knew somebody who had used them in the past and it had worked.

“What really helped me was having a way to track progress,” adds Mark. “On the app, I tracked the money I’d saved and my C0 levels, which they take at the meetings and which drops every week you don’t have a cigarette. And, if I was having a craving, I used to go on the app and look at the progress I’d made, which really encouraged me to keep going.”

There are over 7,000 chemicals in a single cigarette, all of which damage the smoker’s health, from nicotine and carbon monoxide to tar. It harms every organ in the body, leading to one in every two smokers dying of a smoking-related disease and passing away earlier than their non-smoking peers. What’s more, smoking 20 cigarettes a day can cost up to £4,640 a year, while smokers are also more likely to develop depression than non-smokers.

To push back against the harmful impacts of smoking, the Quit Squad are working towards a smoke-free generation to help people protect themselves, their friends, and their family from the impacts of cigarettes and secondhand smoke, which can linger in the home for up to five hours.

“The best thing about being smoke free?” says Mark. “It’s such a long list: I’m richer, I’m healthier, food tastes so much different, I feel cleaner, my clothes don’t smell… I honestly can’t believe I used to do it. The only regret I had is that I didn’t [quit] sooner.”

For more information, call 0800 328 6297 or head to www.quitsquad.nhs.uk. You can also download then My Quit Route App.