AN NHS study has revealed Hampshire spends more than £1 million on stop smoking services.

The latest NHS Digital report found Hampshire spends £1,960,046 on these services, with the cost per individual coming to £856, compared to the Isles of Scilly who spend £586.

Doctor Anindo Banerjee, a consultant in respiratory medicine at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, said: "This shows that the council has paid attention to the fact that we are a hotspot for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

"Smoking is a major cause of COPD, a disease with causes limitation of functioning, lost days at work, stops people pursuing leisure activities and leads to early death. We also have high rates of lung cancers, many of which are caused through smoking."

He added: "This investment in people’s health and wellbeing both for current residents but also for future generations is very welcome. If we can invest to stop people smoking, hopefully this will also deter the young from starting and lead to an improvement in health for the entire region."

The research also discovered that after a four-week follow-up 1,975 Hampshire residents successfully quit smoking between April and December in 2018 and was the county with the sixth highest spend per quitter.

Vapourcore analysed the findings from the NHS Digital report to reveal the areas in England that have spent the most on stop smoking services, which found the total expenditure across 152 local authorities was £329,762.

Charles Bloom, managing director of Vapourcore.com, said: "From the figures it seems that there is a large discrepancy between how much local authorities are spending, or perhaps should we say can spend to help individuals stop smoking."

He added: "Something must be done, considering Public Health England are prompting the remaining 1.6 million people to also consider ditching the deathly habit. At the end of the day, we all need to do our bit, as smoking is only adding to the social care crisis in England, as at least £1 billion a year is being spent on smoking related illnesses.

"The government has a responsibility to care for its citizens and one way to action this, is to provide the funding local authorities need to save the lives of millions."