Portsmouth Hospital: Don't Smoke By Entrance

12 March 2014, 07:57 | Updated: 12 March 2014, 07:59

The Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth is trying to get people to stop smoking outside its main entrances.

To mark national No Smoking Day, Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust is asking its patients and hospital visitors to use one of the two smoking shelters that are provided, and not smoke outside the two main QA hospital entrances.

The Trust completed a no smoking poster campaign in 2012 to highlight and try to tackle the problem of patients and visitors smoking outside the hospital entrances.

In October 2013 it also joined forces with the national 28-day stop smoking campaign, Stoptober, to encourage patients and staff to quit smoking for 28 days as research found that stopping smoking for 28 days makes a person five times more likely to quit the habit for good.

Queen Alexandra also remains the only site in Hampshire to display the distinctive red Stoptober button sign outside its main entrance.

Peter Mellor, Director of Corporate Affairs and Business Development, from Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust says:

"There are two smoking shelters on the QA Hospital site, but a number of patients and visitors are ignoring them and continuing to smoke outside of the two main entrances.

"The Trust houses a 'smoke free' committee that meets twice a year to discuss matters such as this one and will always try to persuade those who choose to smoke outside of the hospital’s two main entrances to think about the effect their smoking might have on others, and move to the suitable location of the smoking shelter should they have to smoke."

It’s No Smoking Day and last year over 160,000 people successfully quit smoking in the nation’s biggest mass participation stop smoking challenge ever.

Giving up smoking is the one single-thing you can do to dramatically increase the quality and length of your life and improve your health. Do it for yourself, your children and your grandchildren.  

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust fully supports Portsmouth City Council in encouraging the local population to stop smoking.  

There are many free local services to help you quit smoking so check out www.healthypompey.com/smoking for more information or call 023 9229 4001.