Giving up smoking? Help is at hand…

Free advice to local residents wanting to quit

Thousands of people across the UK are currently making New Year’s Resolutions to quit smoking – but will they be able to stick to their guns in 2004?

If you live in Hounslow, Ealing or Hammersmith & Fulham, you can get free help from the NHS Smoking Cessation Team. The smoking cessation service is run by trained staff, who work with local people on a one-to-one and group basis, to help ‘coach’ them through the process of giving up.

Gordana Djuric, Director of Public Health at Hounslow Primary Care Trust, said:“Smoking is a hard habit to break and people who are trying to give up often need professional help. If you’re serious about stopping smoking – either in the New Year or at any other time – it’s worth using the smoking cessation service. It won’t cost you anything and it may save your life.”

Getting on to the scheme is easy – just contact your GP or local pharmacist and ask to be referred to the smoking cessation service. Or you can contact the service direct on 020 8321 2321.

The service offers:

• A combination of intensive motivational support with the use of Zyban or NRT (Nicotine Replacement products such as patches, gum etc.)
• A six-visit treatment format, involving attendance once a week
• Three different methods of treatment: attending a group or motivational clinic, attending a one-to-one session with community smoking cessation advisers or support from a smoking in pregnancy midwife.

January 2, 2004