Hospital training to help you stub out the habit for good

Wednesday 09 March 2016

They say it’s the best thing you can do for your health but the Island’s Health department aren’t going to tell you you need to stop smoking this year – they are training people to encourage you to quit instead.

The latest stats show around 1,000 people end up in hospital here because they smoke and the department is focusing on making sure hospital and pharmacy staff know the best way to influence you to kick the habit.

Help2Quit Lead Nurse and Health Psychologist Dr Rhona Reardon said: “We want to encourage smokers to become proud quitters and an important step in achieving this is to get help from a Stop Smoking Service.

“This year we are planning to help healthcare professionals make every contact count by training them in how to raise the issue of smoking, using an evidence-based approach known to increase uptake of the service. This means offering help, rather than simply telling people they need to stop smoking; which we know from smokers can be unhelpful.

“We have begun training and development of hospital staff to improve their skills in talking to patients about smoking. The recently published Jersey Smoking Profile indicated that 1,000 hospital admissions are directly attributable to smoking.

“It is therefore vital that we increase the confidence of healthcare professionals to address smoking in a way most likely to influence patient’s motivation to quit smoking. 

“We will extend this training to a wider number of healthcare professionals in the community throughout 2016 including community pharmacies."

The No Smoking Day campaign is run nationally by the British Heart Foundation and encourages hundreds of thousands of smokers to try and give up. This year’s theme is ‘Be Proud to be a Quitter’ and here in the Island the Help2Quit team will be out in King Street today to talk to smokers and let them know about the Stop Smoking Service.

Local pharmacies delivering the service will be asking all customers today whether they smoke and offering the support that is shown to increase the chances of successfully quitting. 

The Island’s Medical Officer of Health Dr Susan Turnbull said: “Giving up smoking is the single best thing you can do for your health, which is why we’re encouraging smokers to mark the date in their calendars and take the first step towards a smoke-free life.”

You can find out more and get support to help you stop smoking here or you can join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #NoSmokingDay.

 If you want to find out more about Help2Quit, call 0800 7351155.