2,500 manage to quit

ALMOST 2,500 people in Oldham who last year vowed to stop smoking have successfully kicked their habit, new figures reveal.

According to the Department of Health, 4,687 people across the borough set a date to quit smoking between April, 2007, and March this year. Of those, 2,428 (52 per cent) were successful with the help of their local NHS Stop Smoking Service.

Nationally, 350,800 people (52 per cent) who set a date to quit — or almost 1,000 people a day — stubbed out their last cigarette.

Liz Woodworth, Oldham stop smoking service manager, said: “We have a number of initiatives to help people stop smoking. We are always looking at new ways we can reach people and tailor the support we provide to their needs. We hope this will help us to increase the numbers of people who quit.”

Oldham is 3 per cent above the quit rate achieved by other spearhead PCTs — those with particular challenging health inequalities — across the country.

The Community Health Service specialist stop smoking service, part of Oldham Primary Care Trust, offers free support to all people who live or work in Oldham.

It includes stop smoking group sessions, individual sessions, in-house programmes for workplaces and telephone and text messaging support.

Advisers and nurses also work with young pregnant women and women with young families, young people through schools, youth clubs and organisations such as Oldham Athletic and Oldham Roughyeds, black minority ethnic communities and patients and staff at the Royal Oldham Hospital, drop-in sessions at local supermarkets and community venues.

To find out more people can speak to an adviser on 0800 328 8534. Lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 4.30pm (answering machine at all other times).