Becoming a smoke free site
UHS is a smoke-free site. This means that smoking is not permitted anywhere at UHS and that those who do smoke will be supported to use alternatives such as nicotine replacement therapy whilst in our care.
As a recognised smoking cessation tool, vaping is permitted for short-term use where otherwise people would be smoking. Those who vape should do so at least five meters away from buildings, not in front of children and be considerate of other people around them. This position regarding vaping will be kept under review.
We recognise the need to support patients, staff, visitors and our local community with the transition to our smoke-free status that came into effect in April 2024.
Why we are a smoke-free site
In May 2023 the UHS Trust Board approved the plan to become smoke free - making a pledge to be tobacco smoke free by April 2024.
This followed a six-month consultation with our staff, patients, visitors and wider community to determine how we would go forward implementing a smoke free environment.
In welcoming the decision at the time, Paul Grundy, chief medical officer, said: “Reducing smoking amongst the most disadvantaged in our communities is the single most important means of reducing health inequalities
“The NHS is increasingly looking after people with long-term health conditions and we need to do more in creating an environment where people are supported to make healthier decisions.
“We must step up in helping prevent the sort of diseases that we all too often have to treat. Becoming a smoke-free site is a statement that reflects the sort of Trust we want to be, one that looks after our community, our people and our environment.”
Supporting our patients
We have a package of support available to our patients who may be smokers and who need to be supported during their treatment with us to not smoke whilst in our care.
Supporting you to quit
At UHS we are committed to supporting our patients and staff to give up smoking. Here we share the stories of patients and staff who have successfully quit smoking thanks to the support of our in-house services; the tobacco dependency team for patients and our LiveWell programme, provided by our staff occupational health team.
Read Megan's story...
Read Tim's story...
Updates from our journey to be smoke-free
March 2024: Marking No Smoking Day
As we mark No Smoking Day we are highlighting the work of the Tobacco Dependency Team who support our patients to be smoke-free whilst in our care and beyond into their recovery.
Find out more about what they do and their success stories by watching our video here:
Meet our Tobacco Dependency Team
Their work supports UHS being a smoke free site and next month we will be fulfilling our pledge to be smoke free at UHS.
The team are hosting engagement events around the hospital this week and going out and about on the wards to make sure people know about their offer.
As we head towards April and our commitment to be smoke-free, more shelters will be removed by the end of March. New signage will also be going up around the site to help guide people to the support available and let them know that smoking will not be permitted around our hospitals.
Update December 2023: smoking shelter removal
Work will be starting this month to begin removing smoking shelters across the UHS site.
As we work towards becoming a smoke free site, we will shortly start phasing out smoking shelters as part of our pledge to create a smoke-free environment across our hospitals.
In-patients who are smokers are being offered the support of our Tobacco Dependency Team who can prescribe nicotine replacement therapy among other cessation aids. Information about the team is available on our Tobacco dependency team web pages.
Update October 2023
Update from Paul Grundy, chief medical officer
As we are in Stoptober - the month long public health campaign aimed at supporting smokers to quit - it felt like a good time to update with where we are in our journey to becoming a smoke-free site.
Our tobacco dependency team has been doing some amazing work this year ensuring that clinicians and care staff are aware of the need to refer tobacco dependent in-patients into their service on admission. Of the patients we have supported through this valuable intervention, 53% have continued to live smoke-free lives after they were discharged. We need to make sure every single patient who we know smokes has access to this potentially life-changing service.
This month our patients, staff and visitors will also start to see changes around our site. The support on offer to help quit smoking and promoting UHS as a tobacco smoke-free site will be advertised on new signage that will be appearing across the estate in the coming weeks and months. In addition to this, we will start to phase out smoking shelters and other facilities that enable smoking to happen in areas across the site, including at the front entrance where currently so many of our patients and staff currently have to pass through second-hand smoke.
During Stoptober will also be promoting the fantastic work of our in-house LiveWell programme that supports out own staff to give up smoking. The team will be hosting some engagement events and we will be sharing the stories of colleagues who have successfully used the service and now lead smoke-free lives.
We will also be officially sharing the news of our pledge to become smoke free by April next year,.
As we work towards April, we will continue to update you with the progress we will be making to ensure more of the patients we treat and colleagues we work with are supported to give up smoking.
Please be in touch by emailing the smoke-free site team if you have any queries or thoughts as to the implementation of the scheme. This will only succeed with the support of our community to make UHS a healthier environment in which we work and treat our patients.
Update May 2023
The UHS Trust Board approved the plan to become smoke free - making a pledge to be tobacco smoke free by April 2024.
It follows a six-month consultation with our staff, patients, visitors and wider community to determine how we would go forward implementing a smoke free environment.
In welcoming the decision, Paul Grundy, chief medical officer, said: “Reducing smoking amongst the most disadvantaged in our communities is the single most important means of reducing health inequalities
“The NHS is increasingly looking after people with long-term health conditions and we need to do more in creating an environment where people are supported to make healthier decisions.
“We must step up in helping prevent the sort of diseases that we all too often have to treat. Becoming a smoke-free site is a statement that reflects the sort of Trust we want to be, one that looks after our community, our people and our environment.”
The focus of the transition to a tobacco smoke-free site will include physical alternations to the estates around Southampton General Hospital and Princess Anne Hospital, the expansion of in-patient tobacco dependency team, a dedicated group of staff who identify smokers on admission to hospital and arrange nicotine replacement therapy whilst they are in our care, and further promotion of our smoking cessation support services for colleagues.
During our consultation responses were largely in favour of the move to become tobacco smoke-free, but also recognised the challenges of those who are tobacco dependent to quit, particularly in the stressful environment of a hospital. We’d like your help to go smoke free in a way that supports our patients and our staff. If you’d like to be involved please contact the team at smokefreequeries@uhs.nhs.uk.