Cancer centre says no to smoking
Posted 11th March 2015
On national No Smoking Day (11 March) The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre will be calling on patients and visitors to support them in saying 'no' to smoking anywhere on its hospitals grounds.
From 11 March smoking, including e-cigarettes, will no longer be permitted on the cancer centre grounds following the implementation of new measures in their #proudtobesmokefree campaign.
Since July 2007 smoking is banned inside pubs, bars, restaurants and other public buildings in England. As one of the leading cancer centres in the UK we want to extend this and stop people smoking anywhere on our grounds.
The #proudtobesmokefree campaign, which is line with guidance issued from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for all hospitals in England to become smoke free, will help encourage people to stop smoking on the site the Centre by introducing a range of measures; staff are being trained so they can offer nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) to patients. They will also be on hand to offer stop smoking support and advice to patients’ family and friends and to work colleagues.
The campaign will be launched on 11th March in support of the British Heart Foundations annual No Smoking Day campaign. On the day, Lung Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialists will offering advice and support on how to give up smoking and the Live Well Team from Wirral Community Trust will be on hand to talk through nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) and support services available. The Trust has also put up no smoking signs across its grounds and staff will remind people not to smoke on hospital grounds.
Peter Kirkbride, Medical Director at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said: “People in Merseyside and Cheshire are 20% more likely to die of cancer than the average for England. This is thought to be due to social factors such as deprivation, not seeking medical help at an early stage and lifestyle including smoking and diet.
“As a leading cancer centre we have a duty to our patients and we cannot allow people to smoke on our hospital grounds. We know this is not going to be something we can fix overnight but we are committed to the campaign and we hope to see a difference by the end of the year.
“We know how hard it is for someone to break the habit so we will have staff on hand to offer support at every step of the journey.”
One patient who supports our campaign to be a smoke free site is John Swift, 59, from St Helens. John is currently being treated at the Centre and gave up smoking over 10 years ago. He said: “I started smoking when I was 15 years old so it was a hard habit to break. After a number of attempts I finally managed to give up through sheer will power and changing my tact – I told myself I wasn’t giving up smoking but I just wasn’t smoking today and took one day at a time. After a couple of months I started to see the benefits.
“I am in full support of the Centre’s campaign to stop smoking on the hospital grounds. As a patient and an ex-smoker I don’t want to have to be faced with people smoking outside when I come for my treatment.”
Other organisations on the Clatterbridge Health Park; Clatterbridge Hospital, Springview Hospital and St John’s Hospice have also signed up to the #proudtobesmokefree campaign to create a smoke-free site.
