Smokefree Norfolk and Jeesal Cawston Park

Smokefree Norfolk and Jeesal Cawston Park are working together to help and support patients and Jeesal Park staff to stop smoking. The new initiative is run by Smokefree Norfolk  and Jeesal Park Hospital and is supported by The Market Surgery in Aylsham.

Melanie Macrow, Smokefree advisor with Smokefree Norfolk had been supporting Jeesal Park patients who had been referred from Jeesal Park to the regular smoke free clinic at the Market Surgery, Aylsham.  However, this was at times proving difficult to manage and there was a need to offer a more patient-centred care approach.

Smokefree Norfolk then offered Jeesal Park a different approach to help and support their patients stop smoking.   Working closely with specialist nurse Victoria Astley at Cawston Park, they began regular monthly clinics within Jeesal Park. These have since developed into training days to enable staff to become level two smoking cessation advisors.

Staff have attended the first training session and are now working with Smoke free Norfolk to create a strategy to enable more of their patients and staff to give up or reduce their smoking within their own environment. Smoking has been banned in hospitals since 2005 but there is now a call to ban smoking in the grounds of all hospitals and this is a challenge to many organisations, especially those caring for people with mental health challenges.

Victoria Astley, Senior Nurse and Max Curly, an activities co-ordinator at Jeesal Park, spoke about their aims. “We want to be able to give patients and staff support and to educate them into stopping smoking for the good of their physical and mental health and wellbeing.

“We believe that it is important to improve patients’ quality of life and improve their development whilst they are at the Jeesal Park Hospital.”

Smokefree Norfolk is provided by Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust.  The service is open to all NHS patients and can be contacted by telephone on 0800 0854 113  or go to smokefreenorfolk.nhs.uk/ for more information.

Notes:

Jeesal Cawston Park, Norfolk  is a residential hospital that offers a Positive Behaviour Support Programme model for facilitating care pathways for people with learning disabilities, who may also have a co-presenting mental health problem, personality disorder, forensic history or challenging and/or risk type behaviour.  Jeesal Park Hospital have the key aim “to support people with developmental disabilities live normal and fulfilling lives in their communities throughout the United Kingdom.”