News


downsmail.co.uk Stub it out in Stoptober


SMOKERS across Maidstone and Malling are being encouraged to make use of Public Health England’s Stoptober campaign thismonth to improve their chances of quitting for good.


The government’s health team


says using a national initiative as motivation massively increases your chances of kicking the habit over going it alone. Stoptober was launched in 2012,


helping to push down the number of adult smokers to a record low last year – down a quarter on 2011. But the habit remains the biggest cause of preventable deaths in Eng- land. In Maidstone, 17.1% of people


smoke – higher than the prevalence across the South East at 13.7%. The district in Kent with the most smokers is Thanet (23.7%) and Dartford is the lowest at 10.2%. In the borough of Malling and Ton- bridge, 11.6%of people smoke. What is true, according to the fig-


Care agency rated good


ASERVICE offering people support to live independently in their own home has been rated good by the CareQuality Commission.


The Kent Enablement at Home


domiciliary care agency provides help to people in West Malling, Maidstone and the Tonbridge area, often following time in hospital. The service, run from Kings Hill,


was being used by 150 people at the time of the inspection in August. Three people were visited at home and asked about their experiences. Inspectors found the agency pro-


vided good, safe, responsive, per- sonal care to those with physical disabilities and dementia. One told them: “I’m afraid of falling, so it makes me feel safer to walk about whilst carers are therewatching out for me.” Another said: “They come first thing to make sure I’m safe. I like to know someone is there for whatever I need.” The inspector noted: “Therewere


enough staff tomeetpeople’s needs. People were supported with their medicines, protected frominfection and lessons were learned when thingswentwrong. “Individual’s needswere assessed


before their service began and staff had the skills, knowledge and expe- rience to meet them. People were supported to drink and eat enough ... andwere supported to havemax- imum choice and control of their lives,withkindness andcompassion that respected their dignity and pri- vacy.”


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ures, is that of the South East’s 967,011 smokers, six in 10 want to quit. Stoptober last year helped nearly


400,000 smokers stop, cutting the number of smokers nationally to


14.9% of the adult population. The campaign is based on research that found if you canmake it to 28 days smokefree, you are five timesmore likely to quit for good. New this year is a free online


“PersonalQuit Plan” to help smok- ers find the best support for them, with suggestions including face-to- face advice, nicotine patches, gum or inhalers, and e-cigarettes. Visit https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/be- healthier/quit-smoking/stoptober/  There are a million fewer smok- ers in England than in 2014.  Smoking prevalence in England amongst men is 17% and amongst women 13%. News from Public Health England.  E-cigarettes remain the nation’s favourite stop-smoking aid, with about 3.2 million adult users in Great Britain.  TV presenter Jeremy Kyle, who quit smoking earlier this year after 30 years on 20-a-day, is supporting this year’s Stoptober campaign.


Hospital still needs to do beer


AN inspection of Medway Mar- itime Hospital has listed a cata- logue of failings requiring urgent attention. A team from the independent


Care Quality Commission (CQC) taskedwith checking the quality of emergency and urgent care, sur- gery, outpatients and diagnostic imaging, found staff shortages and management issueswere still caus- ing safety concerns and delays. Deputy chief inspector of hospi-


tals Amanda Stanford said Med- way NHS Foundation Trust had shown some signs of improve- ment, but its rating remained as Requires Improvement for the quality, safety and responsiveness of its services and leadership. She added: “Medway NHS


Foundation Trust has come a long way in the last five years.However, there is still a lot more work to be


done, particularly in ensuring a culture of safety exists across the whole of the trust.” Issues identified included:


 failure to meet national require- ments for consultant cover in ur- gent and emergency care, with poor patient flow causing signifi- cant delays for those awaiting spe- cialist reviewor a bed on award; significant challenges in surgery, particularly in retaining nursing staff. There were not enough


nurses and clinical support staff to provide safe care and treatment within surgery;  no clear strategy for delivering good quality, sustainable care in diagnostic imaging, with key va- cancies in the department and poor systems affecting the flow of pa- tients through the department;  a lack of middle management stability in critical care and con- cerns over staff leaving the service. The CQC’s Amanda Stanford


said inspectorswould be returning to check on progress. Lesley Dwyer, chief executive of


Medway Foundation Trust, said: “Many of the concerns raised in the report have already been ad- dressed by the trust. “An action plan has been pro-


duced and we look forward to working with the CQC to make further improvements.”


KIMS staff face 200-mile charity ride


FOURTEEN members of KIMS Hos- pital staff, based near junction 8 of the M20, have been preparing to take part in a 200-mile cycle ride. The fund-raising teamwere due to


pedal fromthe privatemedical busi- ness to Maidstone’s twin town of Beauvais in France. It was due to take place at the


end of September as this edition of DownsMail went to press. The team aims to raise some


funds for theMaidstone andWeald Samaritans group.


Maidstone Weald October 2018 A spokesman said: “The Samari-


tans in Maidstone are an amazing charity, providing 24/7 mental


Fromleft, Suzanne Stevens,Nick Nicholas, Simon James, Allison Bunkall,Nicola Provan and Carolyn Chapman are some of the cyclists heading for Beauvais


health support, and I am sure that will spur us on as we pedal over the two days.”


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