Smokefree trust - South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

We thank you for not smoking on any of our trust sites – it’s time to clear the air!

As part of our smokefree pledge we:

Routinely offer smoking cessation advice to patients in all clinical areas and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) to all inpatients
Systematically record the smoking status of all patients
Provide smoking cessation training for staff
Provide a stop smoking support programme for staff
Ensure NRT is easily accessible from nearby pharmacies
Promote smokefree hospital sites – including entrances and exits

Protecting the health of our patients, staff and visitors

As part of our smokefree commitment, patients and staff will be given the tools and support they need to help them stop smoking. For example nicotine replacement therapy is now available on all of our wards and smokefree training is available to all staff as well as a 12-week stop smoking support programme.

We’re proud to be taking this step and are actively encouraging staff to start conversations about smoking with patients and to signpost them to local stop smoking support services where appropriate.

If you’re a patient, you have a lower risk of serious complications after operations if you don’t smoke. Quitting smoking helps people recover quicker from periods of illness or injury and have a lower risk of re-admission.

People who don’t smoke also have a lower risk of wound infections and have a better chance of a shorter stay in hospital. We also know that patients undergoing cancer treatment like radiotherapy, also have better outcomes if they don’t smoke or stop smoking.

Support for inpatients

If you are an inpatient at one of our hospitals and wish to quit smoking, you can simply ask a member of staff for help and they will be able to support you by referring you to the trust’s tobacco dependency treatment team.

The team will be able to provide alternatives such as nicotine replacement therapy, pharmacotherapy and behavioural advice to you and even refer you to local authority support if needed.

Support for pregnant smokers

Pregnant smokers looking to quit smoking are also encouraged to ask a member of staff for referral to our trust’s maternity tobacco dependency team.

Pregnant smokers risk the health of their unborn child as their babies may be born with weaker lungs than other babies, low birth weight and are three times more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Meet the team

The trust’s tobacco dependency treatment team is a team of experts that strive to help inpatients and staff in their journey to quit smoking.

To know more about the team helping our inpatients and staff lead a smokefree life, visit the tobacco dependency treatment services page.

Smokefree grounds

We want people to understand that there is no smoking allowed anywhere on our hospital sites, including the grounds. If anyone is seen smoking on our premises, our staff have the right to respectfully request for them to stop and extinguish their cigarette.