BCPFT has a duty of care to support others in achieving a healthy lifestyle, and provide a close relationship of care, confidence and communication to those facing the challenges of quitting smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke. It is shocking that people with mental health conditions die on average 10 – 20 years earlier than the rest of our population and smoking is the largest single cause of this gap.
In the run-up to becoming a smokefree Trust we have been working with staff and patients to promote achievement of their healthier lifestyle and improved wellbeing, and introduced new guidelines and policies to support this. Significant changes include:
- introduction of smoking cessation training for staff
- removal of smoke specific breaks
- the addition of signage, to help communicate the Trust’s smokefree policy
- job adverts to contain a statement that adherence to the Trust’s smokefree policy is a contractual obligation
We believe becoming a smokefree environment is an important part of our continuous quality improvement journey, and aim to take a supportive approach to achieve our overall aim of supporting our patients and staff to make healthier life style choices.
We continue to offer training to staff to ensure they are equipped to support each other, and patients, to stop smoking and indeed anyone who wishes to stop smoking can receive support from Health Exchange.”
For more information about smoking cessation support visit the Health Exchange website.