When Smokefreelife Nottinghamshire’s new ‘wellness-on-wheels’ mobile clinic started venturing out into the community, BBC TV East Midlands were intrigued to find out more!
They interviewed Solutions 4 Health (S4H) staff in Mansfield Market Place, as well as local smokers who have recently signed up to quit since the service began on 1st April – and the end result was a very positive and powerful broadcast that featured on both the lunchtime and evening news slots, plus BBC Radio Nottingham.
The mobile clinic is an exciting and innovative way to deliver free stop smoking support, because it operates purely on a drop in basis (no appointment necessary), so anyone wanting to quit smoking can jump on board at a time and location suitable to them and receive weekly specialist advice from friendly and experienced advisors.
S4H Regional Coordinator Samantha Thompson, who featured in the broadcast, says: “The advisors walk you through the quit process including the wide range of nicotine replacement products (such as patches, mouth sprays, inhalers) which are available – and what’s even better is the products are provided there and then, with no charge, so there is no need to visit a pharmacy with a prescription. It is all about making the stop smoking journey as easy as possible.
“Not everyone has the time to book and commit to a regular appointment with the service, whether it’s at a local GP surgery, pharmacy or another community based clinic, so wellness on wheels brings the service to them – allowing them to access the same support and advice. It can also make the service accessible to those ‘hardly reached’ areas and groups like pregnant women, low income families, routine and manual workers and the BME population.”
Current sessions are in Mansfield every Friday, plus Sutton in Ashfield market on Mondays, while weekly sessions are about to begin at Worksop market on Saturday and Newark market on Wednesdays.
There are also plans to introduce another van and rollout in the south of Nottinghamshire in the autumn as part of the big ‘Stoptober’ campaign.
Check out the website www.smokefreelifenottinghamshire.co.uk for the latest clinics info, or text QUIT to 66777 or e-mail info@smokefreelifenottinghamshire.co.uk.
