MPFT has been on a journey since 2018 to become totally smoke free and has already made positive progress. In-patient mental health wards at St George’s Hospital and The Redwoods Centre have introduced smoking advisors to support patients through the quitting process and all patients will be offered the option to enrol on a smoking cessation programme including Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT).
The Trust has also developed a partnership with Staffordshire County Council, EveryoneHealth which offers 12 weeks of free support to all staff members who want to quit smoking.
The pledge was signed by Neil Carr OBE, Chief Executive and Liz Lockett, Chief Nurse and Director of Quality and Professional Leadership.
Neil said: “I am very proud to be signing this pledge on behalf of MPFT. We know smoking is the leading cause of premature death and there is a strong association between smoking and mental health conditions. It is our responsibility as a mental health provider to help our service users and our staff quit smoking and we are working hard to implement services and provisions to do so.”