NHS trust bans smoking on all New Forest hospital sites

PATIENTS, visitors and staff can no longer smoke onsite at any of the hospitals run by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.

The ban, which includes hospitals at Lymington, Fordingbridge, Hythe and Milford and the Fenwick in Lyndhurst, follows recommendations from Public Health England and The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which state that all NHS sites should be smoke free by 2019/20.

This is because, despite rates being at their lowest level since records began, smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable death and illness in the UK. For every death caused by smoking, 20 smokers are suffering from a smoking-related disease.

The trust provides community support, specialist mental health and learning disability services for around 1.3-million people across Hampshire. It also employs around 6,000 staff who work from over 200 sites, which includes hospitals, health centres and inpatient units.

The trust's chief medical officer, Dr Karl Marlowe, said: “It’s taken a lot of preparation with staff and our local partners to get us to the point of becoming a fully smoke-free trust, and we thank everyone involved in getting us to this stage.

“Reducing smoking rates is a vital element of building a healthier society, and NHS staff should not facilitate harm. Many people are in hospital because of smoking-related illness and if they continue to smoke it’s likely they’ll take longer to recover.”

As part of the smoke free commitment, patients and staff will be given the tools and support they need to help them stop smoking. Those admitted to hospitals will have the option to temporarily stop smoking during their stay, or to make a quit attempt with support from a trained member of staff. To help assist this, nicotine replacement products will be provided.

Although smoking has previously been prohibited on Southern Health’s hospital sites, discretion has been exercised in the past, allowing limited smoking in some designated outdoor areas. The trust will now enforce a 100% ban.