Smoking rates in borough some of highest in north west

The north west ranks third highest for smoking related hospital admissions in England

The Rochdale borough has some of the highest smoking rates in the north west, new data shows.

In 2018, the prevalence of smoking locally was recorded as 16.2% - the eighth highest in the north west.

With 21.1%, Blackpool has the highest smoking rate in the region overall, whilst Cheshire East has the lowest prevalence of smoking in adults (8.7%).

The rate of smoking attributable hospital admissions in Rochdale is above the national average of 1.5%, with 2,096 of admissions per 100,000 of the population in the last year (2.1%).

The data, sourced from Public Health England from NHS ‘quit smoking’ services and collated by retailer Vape Club, reveals a detailed look at where smoking remains an issue and how successful NHS services have been able to encourage smoking cessation - the ‘quit rate’.

NHS services across all of the north west recorded a 2.28% ‘quit rate’ slightly above the average achieved across England (2.07%).

However, these cases are still part of the added pressure this puts on services, which can be seen in Public Health England data for ‘Smoking attributable hospital admissions’ per region. The north west ranks third highest for smoking related hospital admissions in England.

While smoking rates in the UK are declining, hospital admissions related to smoking are rising, and there is a concerning trend of cuts to services for quitting smoking: the British Lung Foundation found that the number of GP prescriptions for nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in England has fallen by 75% in the past decade.

Currently e-cigarettes are the most popular stop smoking aid in England, with an estimated 2.5 million users. Over half (51%) have stopped smoking completely and of the 45% who still smoke, half say that they are vaping in order to stop smoking.

According to Public Health England, e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than tobacco and using an e-cigarette with stop smoking service support can double your chances of quitting.