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This year’s ‘quit kit’ for England includes NRT vouchers to help kick start kicking the smoking habit 
30th December 2010 – If giving up smoking is going to be your new year’s resolution, the NHS in England is making it a bit simpler this year by giving a week of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) patches free. According to the NHS, the patches can double smokers’ chances of quitting successfully.
The ‘quit kits’ will be available from some pharmacies from the start of the year, or can be ordered online from NHS Smokefree.
NHS Smokefree says the kit includes practical tools and advice to help you quit. it says 65% of smokers want to quit smoking and New Year is the most popular time for quitting.
In a statement, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley says: “Smoking costs the NHS billions every year and can cost a 20-a-day smoker around £2,000 a year, so giving smokers help to quit not only improves their health, but saves them and the NHS money.�?
What’s in the kit?
The quit kits also contain:
- information on stop smoking medication
- a ‘tangle’ to keep hands and mind busy
- a wall-planner and stickers to track your quitting journey
- a quitting planner which helps smokers assess their habits and offers tips on managing cravings
- flash cards that describe what smoking does to your body
- a willpower booster that assesses addiction levels and offers top tips to boost willpower
- A health and wealth wheel which shows the benefits of quitting on your health and the money you can save
- Information on other NHS quitting help, including local NHS stop smoking services, the ‘Together’ programme and online advisers
Free mp3s
NHS Smokefree also recommends its ‘Quit App’ for the iPhone, which gives encouraging tips each day as well as telling you how much money you’ve saved so far. If you’re about to give in to the craving for a cigarette, it can link you through to the NHS Stop Smoking Helpline.
If you don’t have a smartphone, the tools are also available online at the Smokefree website. this also offers two relaxing mind and body mp3 tracks.
The NHS says the ten-minute recordings have been scientifically proven to reduce the urge to smoke.
Unused support
Overall, the NHS says you’re more likely to quit with its support. however, research shows few people take up the offer.
In November, Professor Robert West of University College London, and director of tobacco studies at the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre, revealed that fewer than 5% of smokers use the NHS, even though his research shows it is four times more effective than other methods.
Benefits of quitting
NHS Smokefree sets out the health and lifestyle advantages of going through the pain of giving up: