School Nurse praised after all young people she’s supporting quit smoking in County Durham schools

Posted on: Thursday 23 May 2019

A School Nurse has been praised after all of the young people she has been supporting quit smoking in County Durham schools.

Mary Tones, a School Nurse with Growing Healthy County Durham, part of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, provides stop-smoking clinics at Seaham High School and Easington Academy offering advice and support to teenagers aged 12-16 who smoke.

Now, Mary has been praised by her organisation for ‘making a difference’ to the young people she has supported. Recently, 10 of the 11 young people Mary has been supporting quit smoking within four weeks of their quit date – with the eleventh quitting soon after.

Mary and the team offer clinics in the schools directly, supporting young people who wish to stop smoking and offering them advice on the risks associated with smoking. On a weekly basis across both schools, the team sees around 10 young people on average. As well as advice and support, the team also provides the young people with vouchers for nicotine replacement therapies – including patches and mouth spray.

The clinics are provided in partnership with smokefreelife County Durham, an integrated Solutions4Health and Durham County Council service, who provide training to Growing Healthy County Durham staff.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust’s ‘Making a Difference Awards’ is a recognition scheme to celebrate the successes and highlights of staff who have gone the extra mile to help and support members of the public and colleagues.

Mary said: “It’s fantastic to have been recognised for the support I have offered to young people at Seaham High School and Easington Academy.  To be able to advise young people who want to stop smoking and see them succeed in improving their short and long term health is really rewarding – and I’m proud to be involved in their progress.”

Pictured: Mary being awarded with a ‘Making a Difference Award’ by Steve Russell, Chief Executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, for her smoking cessation work with young people in County Durham secondary schools.

ENDS

Notes to editors: Growing Healthy County Durham is part of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, and promotes and protects the health and wellbeing of all children and young people in the county. Part of the role of the service is to work with children, young people and families to empower and enable them to make informed decisions about health, and to support them in transitioning safely and happily into adult life.

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Jamie Wright, Communications and Marketing Assistant, [email protected] and 01423 557732.