NHS Lothian ordered to cut number of smokers by fifth

HEALTH chiefs have launched a £1.2 million drive to get 28,000 smokers in the Lothians off cigarettes in the next four years.

Every time a smoker is admitted to any Lothian hospital from now on, they will be approached by a new dedicated member of staff employed specifically to help them quit.

Even when a patient is discharged, they will be referred to community services to support their efforts to kick the habit.

The new scheme comes after NHS Lothian was ordered by the Scottish Executive to cut the number of people hooked on tobacco by almost a fifth.

Young people, pregnant women and

those on low incomes will be the main targets of the initiative, which is being funded by the Executive.

Health boards across Scotland have been told to slash the number of smokers in their area, with NHS Lothian expected to cut its addicts by 17 per cent from 166,300 to 138,000 by 2010.

NHS Lothian also plans to place more emphasis on one-to-one quit sessions and group work in places like working men's clubs and bingo halls.

Other plans include the expansion of youth work and the roll-out of an award-winning West Lothian project in which midwives act as mentors to help expectant mums to quit smoking.

The project, called Stop 4 Life, is supported by anti-smoking organisation ASH Scotland and has helped more than 300 expectant mums since it started two years ago.

ASH Scotland chief executive Maureen Moore said NHS Lothian had a challenging task ahead. But she added: "The NHS Lothian strategy aims to get the stop-smoking services out to the people that need it. That forms an essential part of increasing the numbers of people that quit.

"We have to reach out to smokers who wouldn't normally go to a doctor to get help to stop smoking. We're pleased NHS Lothian is doing that by putting stop-smoking services into new venues like working men's clubs and bingo halls.

"The target of 28,000 smokers to quit by 2010 is a challenge, but this plan is a good first step toward meeting it."

Health bosses hope that more smokers will go to pharmacists for support while they are trying to stop, especially as many sessions can be booked at weekends and evenings when GPs surgeries are closed.

Pharmacist Fiona McCready said: "I think [the target] is achievable if everyone works together - GPs, nurses and pharmacists, for example, all working on some level to support people who want to stop and access services where ever they are."

Currently, only psychiatric patients who are admitted to the Royal Edinburgh Hospital are allowed to smoke on NHS Lothian premises.

However, plans are under way to train staff to help patients to stop smoking.

NHS Lothian smoking cessation co-ordinator Fiona Moore added: "NHS Lothian is committed to delivering the highest standard of service to help patients stop smoking."

Young people will also be targeted and NHS figures show that 14 per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds in the Lothians smoke cigarettes.

The Executive wants to see a three per cent reduction in the number of young people smoking, but as education campaigns have made little impact youth workers believe the task will be difficult.

Laurene Edgar, of the Canongate Youth Project in Edinburgh, regularly challenges young people if she believes they are smoking but the majority of the time they will deny their habit.

Ms Edgar added: "They are not unaware of the harmful effects of smoking but they continue to do it anyway and the obvious cause of that is peer pressure.

"What we would like to think about is something which promotes good health in holistic way so that people can see the link between smoking and poor health."