As the nation marks No Smoking Day, the team based at Stepping Hill Hospital who help patients quit are reminding people that its never too late to give up the cigs.

The CURE team have confirmed they’ve now helped over 770 patients to give up smoking long term since they began in September 2020. Many of these had been smoking for decades.

CURE is a Greater Manchester-wide project of comprehensive secondary care treatment for tobacco addiction. It ensures all active smokers admitted to hospital are immediately offered specialist support from the stop smoking team, together with nicotine replacement therapy and other medications for the duration of their admission, and after discharge too.

Tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable death, disability, illness and social inequality in our area and indeed in the world.

One patient who has helped by the team to quit was Karen Davis, 61, from Romiley, who first encountered them in May last year.

Karen had a severe experience with her COPD and was taken to Stepping Hill Hospital’s emergency department (A&E) before being admitted and treated in the hospital for antibiotics. In total she was on the ward for 10 days.

She had been smoking for around 47 years, and admits she had no intention of giving up when she first went to hospital. It was the fact Karen was unable to smoke on the hospital grounds which first spurred her on, as she accepted nicotine patches, and, more importantly, advice from the CURE team for the first time. 

“The team were so friendly and supportive, and really helped me to think it was really possible to give up smoking, which is something I really never believed before. In the weeks and months that followed they kept in touch and helped me out whenever I had a ‘wobble’ or thought I might get back into the habit. I certainly couldn’t have done it without them. They’ve really improved my life for the better, and if they can help me they can help anyone!”

Aside from one brief lapse of a day, Karen has kept smokefree for nine months, and fully intends to stay off the cigarettes. The team are now also supporting her aunty who has given up smoking too.

Respiratory nurse practitioner and CURE team leader Pauline Holmes said “We’re really pleased to have helped Karen give up smoking, and hundreds of others too.  Smoking is the result of addiction to nicotine, not a lifestyle choice, and we’re hear to give people the dedicated support they need to deal with this addiction.”

As well as helping hundreds of patients to quick smoking over the longer term, the CURE team have estimated they have saved people over £4,200,000 in unsmoked cigarettes too.

The CURE stop smoking team will help any inpatient at Stepping Hill Hospital who wants to give up, but support is also on hand from Healthy Stockport for those in the community too. No Smoking Day is a good opportunity to stop.    

For more information about stopping smoking and free support visit www.makesmokinghistory.co.uk