Thursday, 28 October 2010

Smokers blow £2M NHS cash - Hartlepool Today

THE cost of treating patients for smoking-related illnesses in Hartlepool topped £2m in just 12 months, new figures have revealed.NHS Hartlepool last year footed a bill totalling £2,228,219 for hospital admissions of adults aged over 35 for conditions linked to smoking.

But Hartlepool, where an estimated one in three adults smoke, leads the way nationally for helping people quit.

Last year Hartlepool's Stop Smoking Services persuaded 1,934 people to give up cigarettes by holding clinics in community centres, pubs, and children's centres across the town.

Carole Johnson, health improvement lead for NHS Hartlepool, said: "Smoking rates and deaths from respiratory disease in Hartlepool are higher than the national average and the town has a high incidence of lung cancer, particularly among women.

"Hartlepool has an extremely successful Stop Smoking Service. Once again for 2009-2010 Hartlepool achieved the highest four-week quit rates in the country.

"Overall in Hartlepool there has been a steady decline in smoking prevalence."

The PCT added it was doing a number of things to tackle smoking in the town, including helping pregnant smokers to quit and a training programme for staff who work with children and families on the dangers of second-hand smoke.

Dr Katie Elmer, consultant chest physician at the University Hospital of Hartlepool, said smoking is a major cause of early death in the town and warned admissions for chest conditions are expected to rise during winter.

She said: "The biggest thing anyone can do to improve their health is to give up smoking."

Figures for smoking-related hospital admissions were released by the Association of Public Health Authorities Observatories (APHO), a public health intelligence organisation.

The cost for neighbouring North Tees primary care trust, which covers Billingham, was £4,017,653, while County Durham PCT, which covers Peterlee and east Durham, reached £11,493,469.

The figures come as the APHO publishes tobacco profiles for the North-East detailing levels of illness and avoidable death caused by smoking.


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