THE respiratory service at Nottingham Children's Hospital provides a service for a wide range of respiratory conditions.
We provide services for the East Midlands and care for a range of complex respiratory conditions.
Our team consists of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, dieticians, psychologists, social workers, school teachers and play specialists – all of whom provide a unified and comprehensive service based on high standards of care for the children and young people.
We see children with a variety of conditions such as a chronic cough, asthma, cystic fibrosis and sleep-disordered breathing.
An important part of the work we do focuses on health education – specifically smoking. We will often have discussions with parents and young people, using a non-judgemental approach, about the effects of smoking.
While we respect that everyone has a right to privacy and to make their own choices, all children, in particular children with respiratory conditions, should not be exposed to cigarette smoke.
Since the introduction of the ban on smoking in public places, a study in Scotland has shown a reduction in hospital admissions for children.
There is strong evidence to support that smoking in pregnancy is associated with wheezing in pre-school children. Smoking can also cause children to be prone to ear infections and they are more likely to have allergies.
If you need help and support to give up smoking there are many services available to you, such as the free confidential NHS service New Leaf which operates across Nottinghamshire.
You can also contact your local GP who can provide help and further advice. However, some useful tips that we give are:
If you do smoke, do not smoke in the house.
Be honest and open with your doctors and nurses if you do smoke because they can provide you with advice and information to get some help.
Teenagers with asthma or any other respiratory condition who may smoke can also get the appropriate help. However it is important for young people and parents to discuss this with a health care professional.
If you have a child on long-term oxygen it is dangerous for anyone to smoke in the house or anywhere near the oxygen.