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As part of No Smoking Day, Sunderland stop smoking advisor explains how the service continues to support people through these unprecedented times

Hi, my name is Donna, I’m a nurse for Sunderland specialist stop smoking service, specialising in long-term conditions.  I work closely with the local hospitals to help their patients to quit and provide free advice and support to anyone living or working in Sunderland.

I’ve been a nurse for 13 years and I absolutely love it! I have worked in the specialist stop smoking team for 2 years now, something that is close to my heart as I have seen first-hand the damage that smoking can do to people.

We always support No Smoking Day as it gives us an opportunity to reach new people, this year that’s even more important. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of looking after ourselves and if you smoke, the best thing you can do for your health is to quit smoking!

Quitting smoking has many benefits that start within hours and continue for the next 15 years.  Within the first 48 hours, your body becomes nicotine-free, your blood pressure, pulse, and oxygen levels all return to normal and your lungs start to clear mucus. These improvements continue to happen for the next 10-15 years, by this time your chance of getting lung cancer is half that of a smoker and the risk of having a heart attack is the same as a non-smoker! Not only are there benefits to your health but you can also save a lot of money by becoming smoke-free. On average a person who smokes 15 cigarettes per day could save roughly £2,500 per year by quitting, think of what you could spend that money on!

One of the most rewarding parts of my role is seeing people achieve their goal of going smoke-free and the difference it makes to their lives.

For anyone thinking of quitting, please get in touch, we can still offer you support by telephone or video consultations and you can speak. Even if you’ve tried before but not been successful, we encourage you to try again – this time could be the right time! We can support you to find the best option for you and did you know that any prescription you need to help you stop smoking is free?

As soon as it is safe to do so, we’ll be offering appointments in the clinics again but in the meantime, you can still have 1:1 support over the phone, via video consultations and you can chat to us on our live chat function on the website.

For more information please visit our website www.stopsmokingsunderland.nhs.uk or call us on 0191 567 1057.