York hospital are delighted to announce the launch of their in house Tobacco Dependency Treatment Teams, supporting for patients and staff, developed in line with the NHS long term plan in Trusts within the Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, to provide the best opportunities for good health for all and to support a truly Smokefree NHS.
The staff tobacco dependence treatment service launched at York Hospital – supported by City of York Health Trainers – on Thursday 14 July in the staff wellbeing hub and 10 members of staff have used the service as the start of their journey to becoming Smokefree! This is a pilot service for trust staff across the partnership which offers completely free nicotine replacement therapy for up to four weeks, and an onsite stop smoking expert to make it as accessible as possible.
The staff service, supported by community stop smoking services, is rolling out to Bridlington Hospital on Wednesday 3 August with Scarborough Hospital, Hull University Teaching Hospital Trust and North Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals to follow throughout August and September.
Smoking is the leading cause of premature death, and the NHS should no longer stand back and watch people suffer because of the harm caused by tobacco. Swap and Stop is about recognising that if you smoke, the best thing to do is to stop and the best way of doing that is with medication and support, and that this is available for free through the NHS.
Tobacco dependence treatment services offer clients a combination of behavioural support and nicotine replacement therapy such as patches, inhalators, gum, medication or vapes and is proven to be up to three times more effective in supporting people to quit smoking for good.
When compared to smoking, vaping is at least be 95% less harmful and has, for many people, proved to be an extremely successful aid to quitting. All Trusts within the partnership are currently reviewing policies to include permission for vaping in specified outside locations for both staff, patients, and visitors to support those using vapes in place of smoking tobacco. Stop smoking support is available to everyone, so feel free to contact your local service Find Your Local Stop Smoking Service (LSSS) – Better Health – NHS (www.nhs.uk) who will be happy to help.
How about next time you try to stop smoking, we do it together?
