A NEW programme aimed at tackling smoking among Dorset’s hospital patients could reduce the 1,000 deaths and £3.5million cost to the NHS in the county each year.

The initiative is part of a wider plan to encourage smokers to quit in all hospitals across the county, supported by Public Health Dorset, and reduce smoking rates in the county from 13.6 per cent of the adult population now, to five per cent by 2030.

At the acute medical unit (AMU) at Poole Hospital, all patients will be offered a carbon monoxide test and nicotine replacement therapy, for example gum or patches, to treat nicotine withdrawal while in hospital.

Staff will receive special training on how to support patients withdrawing from nicotine, and in motivational and behavioural support.

And when a patient leaves the hospital, further support will be available through community smoking cessation services to help patients quit and stay quit.

Heidi Croucher, specialist midwife for smoking cessation, is leading the work, said: “Smoking has such significant consequences on health.

“Smoking should no longer been seen as a lifestyle choice but as an illness.

“The effects of smoking reach almost every aspect of the NHS, from breathing difficulties in children to lung cancer, stroke, heart disease and low birth weights for new-borns.

“As health professionals we can all take steps to support our patients to lead healthier lives”.

The new service will be launched at Poole Hospital on March 10, national no smoking day.