27 November 2018

Portsmouth Hospitals Trust (PHT) are campaigning to encourage people to put an end to smoking at Queen Alexandra Hospital (QA), one of the busiest hospitals in Britain.

The SmokeFree PHT initiative has been launched to help encourage people to improve their health and make QA a smoke-free site from 14 January 2019.

Currently, according to research from the NHS, smoking is the cause of 1 in 5 of all deaths in Portsmouth. An extremely concerning statistic, one that begins to explain why PHT has signed the NHS Smoke Free Pledge – a commitment to reducing tobacco-related harm and helping smokers to quit.

With such a high number of deaths in Portsmouth due to smoking, it may not surprise you to know that the level of tobacco consumption in the southern city is higher than the national average, with over one in seven adults admitting to smoking.

Financially, this detrimental habit is also a huge drain on resources for hospitals across the country including QA. It’s estimated to cost the NHS a whooping two billion pounds a year!

This is all without mentioning how bad smoking is for your oral health.

It’s widely known to cause tooth staining, gum disease, tooth loss and in more serious cases, mouth cancer, a deadly disease that claims the lives of over 2,700 people each year.

With Mouth Cancer Action Month currently ongoing, The Oral Health Foundation is keen to stress that cutting down and quitting smoking can improve your chances of avoiding several serious conditions like mouth cancer.

Whether you’re a patient at QA or a visitor, we encourage you to get involved and help make the hospital a smoke-free area.

If not for your health, do it for the health of people who will be exposed to second-hand smoke, which is also known to increase your risk of developing several diseases and conditions.

Get involved with the campaign by filling in a pledge card and posting a picture of yourself with your message on social media.

Don’t forget to use #SmokeFreePHT!