In light of new national requirements, by this spring all ULHT sites will be smoke free. We know banning smoking on all our sites is the right thing to do for our staff, patients and visitors. Allowing smoking on-site isn’t in line with our values or vision of excellence in rural healthcare. 
Smoking is the primary cause of preventable illness and death. Every year smoking causes around 96,000 deaths in the UK. On average, cigarette smokers die 10 years younger than non-smokers do. Exposure to other people’s tobacco smoke is also a cause of ill-health. Second hand smoke has been shown to cause many illness and diseases.
Stephen Kelly, Occupational Health Services Nurse and Business Manager at ULHT, said: “We want to create an environment where smokers feel supported and encouraged to stop smoking. Patients, staff, visitors and others working on our sites will be encouraged to be smoke-free while on our premises, and to make plans to quit in the long term.
“We are currently developing a policy on how we can become a smoke-free organisation and we will look at providing support for patients in our care to help them either abstain from smoking during their stay or to try to stop smoking permanently.”
Want to quit? The Smokefree Lincolnshire service is available for anyone in the county who wants to quit smoking by calling 0800 622 6968 or texting ‘smokefree’ to 66777. Alternatively, referrals can be made through your GP who can also prescribe nicotine replacement products to help you.
If you have ideas about how to make our sites smoke free please contact Stephen Kelly.