Stamping out smoking in North Lincolnshire

North Lincolnshire Tobacco Control Coordinator Greg Gough; North Lincolnshire Director of Public Health Frances Cunning; Chair of North Lincolnshires Health and Wellbeing Board Councillor Rob Waltham; RDaSH Chief Executive Christine Bain; RDaSH Adult Mental Health Service Manager Tania Linden; North East Lincolnshire Tobacco Control Coordinator Trevor Parkin and North Lincolnshire Public Health Consultant Fiona Phillips.

Chief Executive Christine Bain formally signed the NHS Statement of Support for Tobacco Control on behalf of Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH), at its Great Oaks Mental Health Unit in Ashby earlier this month, witnessed by local public health and wellbeing representatives.

The statement has been prepared by the Smokefree Action Coalition and endorsed by key leaders in health including Public Health Minister Jane Ellison and Chief Executive of NHS England Simon Stevens. It provides a public commitment to work towards further reducing smoking prevalence, demonstrate a commitment to take action, and publicise the NHS’s dedication to protect local communities from the harm caused by smoking. It also reinforces the signatory’s commitment to protect tobacco control work from the vested interests of the tobacco industry.

Christine Bain said: “All our frontline staff have responsibility to make every contact count. This means taking every opportunity to find out about our patients’ health needs, and providing brief advice, or signposting to help improve their health and wellbeing.

“Smoking cessation obviously plays a major role in this, and RDaSH is fully committed to the principles outlined in this Statement to cut smoking rates and reduce the numbers of preventable deaths that smoking causes.”

Chair of North Lincolnshire’s Health and Wellbeing Board Councillor Rob Waltham said: “We are delighted that RDaSH has signed the NHS Statement of Support for Tobacco Control Smoking to help stamp out one of biggest causes of preventable deaths in our region.

“RDaSH joins North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire’s Clinical Commissioning Groups in signing the Statement, and we hope that other NHS trusts in our region will also pledge their support.”