Wednesday 13 March is National No Smoking Day and ELHT’s Health and Wellbeing service is ready to help smokers quit. No Smoking Day is an annual health awareness day which aims to support and connect millions of people who are on their smoke-free journey.
We are also calling on the community to help support the Trust’s smoke-free status by not smoking on any of our sites, and particularly at the entrances to buildings. It’s one of the biggest sources of complaints and despite extra signage and polite requests, some people continue to smoke causing discomfort and distress to others.
Each year the campaign embraces a theme to help unite people, encourage discussion and promote the unique ways people find success in quitting. This year’s theme is ‘#TodayIsTheDay’.
Members of our Smokefree team will be on hand today, Wednesday 13 March, to help offer stop smoking support and advice, along with other lifestyle initiatives, for all East Lancashire residents and staff looking to make and sustain positive changes.
Claire Jones, Well Service Lead said, “We will be promoting National No Smoking Day by holding a drop in session at Macmillan Hub on the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital site, from 10am until 3pm. We are hoping it will help to raise awareness of the importance of quitting smoking and the benefits it has to people’s health and wellbeing.
“Everyone's different, which means it’s important to work out the best way for individuals to quit, they need to make that choice and take control. It’s the best way to increase the chances of quitting for good. What we have found is smokers who use their local stop smoking service are up to four times more likely to successfully quit for good, so why not come along, see how we can help you and make today your day to quit.”
The Trust is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of our patients, visitors and our workforce. Being smoke-free is a big part of us promoting healthy behaviours and minimising the risk of harm to others from passive smoking.
Following on from national No Smoking Day, we are holding our second Big Butt Clean Up event tomorrow, Thursday 14 March. Cigarette butts on the floor can be a signal to smokers that we accept smoking on our sites, which is not the case. The Big Butt Clean Up is a clear message that such littering is unacceptable and helps to promote a clean and healthy environment to aid our patient’s recover.
If you would like to volunteer your time to support the Big Butt Clean Up, you can join our Smoke-Free team at 11:30 at the main entrance on the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital site.