“We are determined to help as many smokers quit as possible”
That’s the message from Lesley Dwyer, chief executive of Medway NHS Foundation Trust in the south east of England.
This week, Medway NHS Foundation Trust signed the NHS Smokefree Pledge to mark the two-year anniversary of Medway Maritime Hospital successfully becoming a smoke-free site.
Celebrating the achievement, Medway has become the first acute trust in the region to join the NHS Smokefree Pledge programme.
In October 2016, the hospital became smoke-free as part of a drive to protect and improve the health and wellbeing of patients, visitors and staff.
Reflecting on the trust’s smoke-free anniversary, she added:
“We are extremely proud to have been smoke-free at Medway for two years, which has made the hospital a much healthier environment for our staff, patients and visitors.
“The support we have received from the Medway Stop Smoking Service has been exceptional – they have advised almost 2,000 of our patients and staff about the dangers of smoking and what they can do to quit.”
A spokesperson for Medway Council’s Stop Smoking Service said it is an,
“E-cigarette friendly service and acknowledges the role these devices have played in supporting people to quit.”
The timing is fitting, half way through the 2018 Stoptober initiative, which since its rollout in 2012, has so far helped more than one million smokers attempt to quit smoking for good.
Last year 3,000 people used Medway Council’s seven week Stop Smoking programme and 50 per cent quit for good, in line with the national average.
