Highest proportion of smokers quit in Yorkshire than any other region in England

Between April 2023 and March 2024, 65% of people in Yorkshire who tried to stop smoking with the support of a local stop smoking service reported they were still smokefree a month later, exceeding the national average of 54%.

This represents nearly 11,000 people in Yorkshire, totalling over 10% of all the quits in England.

A successful quitter is defined by the NHS as someone who has reported not smoking for at least 15-28 days and who has continued to remain smokefree for a further 28 days from this date.

Leeds had the fourth highest proportion of successful quitters in Yorkshire, with 69% of people reaching their set quit date. Although Yorkshire has the highest proportion of successful quits, Yorkshire and the Humber has the second highest smoking rate in England.

This means that although quit rates are high, not enough people are coming forward for support. Every week, 90 people in Yorkshire are told they have a smoking-related cancer, making tobacco the biggest cause of preventable cancer in the region.

Dr Stuart Griffiths, Director of Research and Services at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said: “Despite the decreasing smoking rates, half a million people in Yorkshire still smoke. This means thousands of people are at risk of dying from cancers that could be prevented. It is vital that more people in Yorkshire have access to the specialist support they need to successfully stop smoking and can go on to live longer, healthier lives.”

Yorkshire Cancer Research is committed to helping prevent smoking-related cancers by ensuring more people in Yorkshire can access life-changing stop smoking support that will help them quit smoking for good.

Evidence shows that people are up to three times more likely to stop smoking with behavioural support and stop smoking treatment.

The Yorkshire Cancer Research Stop Smoking Service provides support and advice, helping participants to develop coping strategies and use stop-smoking aids to increase success rates.

Angela, from High Beston, joined the service after a tumour was found in her kidney and she wanted to improve her health before having surgery to remove it. She said: “I was a smoker for over 50 years, and I had always wanted to quit but never knew how. When I saw that Yorkshire Cancer Research had a stop-smoking service, I decided it was time to do something about it.

“The first few weeks were really tough, but the support I received helped me find ways to keep occupied and persevere through the cravings. Now I’ve finished the programme, I can breathe a lot easier and do things I never thought I would be able to again, like walking and hiking. I’m proud to be a non-smoker.”

Yorkshire Cancer Research also funds experts across the region to find the most effective ways to stop people smoking.

The charity has funded £2.7 million of stop smoking services in the region and has overall helped more than 3,400 people successfully quit smoking.

This includes the South Yorkshire QUIT programme which offered smoking cessation support to people in hospital alongside their routine care.

Funded by the charity and delivered by NHS South Yorkshire, the QUIT programme has helped over 2,500 people successfully quit smoking since 2021 and is an important learning model for other areas in Yorkshire and beyond.

Paul Lambert, Head of Services at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said: “The QUIT programme provides clear evidence that embedding smoking cessation services into hospitals has a transformative impact on people's lives. There are still many areas across our region where rates of smoking are higher than the national average.

Ground-breaking programmes like QUIT are essential to helping prevent smoking-related cancers in the region.”

If you would like to find out more about how Yorkshire Cancer Research is helping Yorkshire to become smoke free, please visit www.yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/support-to-stop-smoking