New campaign at Cork hospital will help you quit smoking

THE Mercy University Hospital (MUH) has launched a new Quit Smoking campaign, backed by a range of support services to help people who want to stop smoking.

Funded by a €7,000 Tobacco-Free Campus Bursary granted by the HSE Tobacco Free Ireland Programme, the campaign will include fresh signage, literature for patients and the public, and local advertising targeting public compliance.

The new campaign was launched as part of World No Tobacco Day which took place recently.

World No Tobacco Day is a yearly event used to inform the public about the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, and what the World Health Organisation (WHO) is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic.

The member states of the WHO created World No Tobacco Day to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes.

HSE Tobacco Lead for Cork and Kerry Anna Burns said that the hospital implemented a tobacco-free campus policy on National No Smoking Day in 2021.

She said that since then, the hospital has begun a process of going tobacco-free on its wider campus.

“What this means is that smoking and the use of electronic cigarettes is not permitted anywhere in and around the Mercy University Hospital that can be considered its campus.

“We are here to support you in quitting,” she said, adding that the Stop Smoking Service is provided at Mercy University Hospital to staff and patients.

“You will be supported to suspend your smoking while in the Mercy, from the Emergency Department to out-patients, to your stay as an in-patient. Make sure to ask for your free stop smoking medications as soon as you arrive and when you feel you need them.

“Smoking is defined by the World Health Organisation as a chronic relapsing disease. Treat it as such. It is the nicotine in cigarettes that you are addicted to as a smoker and it is this that you are craving when you are in withdrawal.

“Nicotine-replacement losenges, patches and other products can ease your cravings and make you comfortable, while in our hospital.

“If you choose to quit smoking — and seven or so out of 10 smokers want to — then you will be referred into the Stop Smoking service nearest to where you live. We run daily clinics in St Mary’s Health Campus that you can access,” she said.

She said that using a standard treatment programme, which involves a combination of behavioural support and nicotine replacement therapy, will support people to be free of nicotine over a few short weeks.

“You might continue to take the free Stop Smoking Medications for a period of twelve weeks to ensure you are free of your dependency and on the path to better health.

“You can find the clinic nearest to you on the Quit.ie website. By availing of the one-to-one supports, as well as the medications, you are four times more likely to quit, even if you have tried many times before. It is never too late to quit.

“While it is understandable that nicotine addiction needs to be managed while at work, we need to highlight that this issue poses many risks to colleagues and patients if allowed to continue.

“Most people would not know that a smoker takes in only approximately 15% of the smoke available from a cigarette. What is exhaled and what is called ‘side-stream’ smoke escapes the smoker.

“Therefore, 85% goes into the atmosphere. When smoking outside back doors or under windows, it must be understood that lots of that smoke travels back into the building.

“There is also a concept called third-hand smoke; the stuff of particles that land and stay (for years) on soft surfaces; that is difficult to remove and that contains carcinogens, as does second and first-hand smoke,” she said.

FREEDOM

The Smoking Cessation Service supported upward of 30 Mercy staff members over the last year since the initiative began.

Staff member Pauline Ryan said that quitting has had multiple benefits in her life and that she now has a freedom that she never had before.

“My decision to quit had many influences, but in terms of timing two factors coincided, firstly MUH became a smoke-free campus and secondly my own acknowledgement that if I didn’t change my behaviour, the damage I have caused would not be reversible. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I still hope that I am not too late,” she said.

Speaking about the colleagues who have successfully quit through the free supports available, Ms Burns, said: “A core principle of health promotion is ‘making the healthier choice the easier choice’.

“By implementing our tobacco-free policy we are doing just that. We should be proud of how far we have come. Of course, it is a journey.

“We have made a good start on the journey and will keep working towards the goal, that is worthy of us all; of a tobacco-free workplace and by 2025 a tobacco-free society.”

Consultant Respiratory Physician and Chairman of the MUH Tobacco Free Campus (TFC) Working Group Dr David Curran, said: “Of the 7,000 chemicals in a cigarette, over 60 of them are known carcinogens.

“Cigarettes are also expensive. It will cost you over €5,000 per year to smoke 20 cigarettes a day currently. It will also cost you your health.

“Smokers lose, on average, 10 to 15 years of life, as compared to non-smokers. Quality of life is also diminished through smoking. Most smokers, for these reasons, want to quit.

“Seven out of 10 smokers do in fact want to quit, on average. This means that most people who smoke have often tried to quit before and may feel they have failed.”

New Smoking Cessation Officer at MUH Jonathan Hannafin recently joined the HSE as a health promotion and improvement officer, with a priority on tobacco, and will be running clinics in the hospital on Wednesdays and Thursdays for inpatients, out-patients and staff.

He plans to help service users to become tobacco-free using a standard treatment programme, which involves a combination of behavioural support and nicotine replacement therapy.

Those who wish to learn more about the free standard treatment programme, nicotine replacement therapy for patients or staff or referral pathways can contact Jonathan by email: Jonathan.hannafin@hse.ie.