Get support with quitting smoking
Stopping smoking is the single most important thing someone who smokes can do to improve health as it will immediately reduce risks of heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and dementia.
If you smoke 10 cigarettes a day (a packet costs, on average, £14.57) and give up, you will save £2,495 a year. If you smoke 20 cigarettes a day, quitting will save you £4,160 a year!
Many thousands of people in Scotland stop smoking for good every year, often without any support.
NHS Scotland's stop smoking services, however, can significantly boost your chance of success. Support is free and available by phone or through an online webchat. Alternatively, you can create your own personal quit plan online.
You can contact Quit Your Way Scotland for free by:
Their helpline services is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
The webchat service is open within those times, subject to advisor availability. Head to this website to check availability.
Quit Your Way Scotland is run by NHS 24 and is staffed by trained health professionals who are able to give you expert and personalised advice.
The service can help by:
Whether you’re ready to stop, just beginning to think about it, or are just looking for information, Quit Your Way Scotland is here to help you.
Quit Your Way Scotland has no minimum age limit, and you have the choice to chat with them for free on the phone or through webchat.
You can trust Quit Your Way Scotland to respect your confidentiality. You won’t receive any letters and they won’t share your information without your consent.
The service can also suggest how you can give up vaping and, if you’re smoking alongside recreational drugs, they can signpost you towards help and advice.
Very Brief Advice
Very Brief Advice is a simple, effective, evidence-based intervention that is designed to be used opportunistically in less than 30 seconds when speaking with someone who smokes.
Very Brief Advice comprises of three elements:
Ask
Ask if the person smokes.
Advise
Advise the person to contact Quit Your Way Scotland who provide specialist support which can increase the chances of successfully stopping smoking by three to four times.
Act
Build the person’s confidence by providing information and signposting or referring them to Quit Your Way Scotland, and be persistent in offering to do this as it may take more than one attempt for someone to successfully quit smoking.
Public Health Scotland has a resource detailing how very brief advice on smoking can be adopted into the everyday work of GPs, nurses, health visitors, midwives, dentists and pharmacists (i.e. those not providing specialist smoking support within their service)
Sharing your story with us can play a crucial role in helping someone to quit.
Working with young people
There are a number of ways that we can help reduce the harm that smoking causes to young people.
Parents and carers
As key influencers, parents and carers can play a pivotal role in helping their young people quit.
Get inspired
There's no right or wrong way to stop smoking. Get inspired by others who have made the change.