The 170 which responded provided information about their
smoking and vaping policies at the time, how these policies
were enforced and what future amendments or policy
implementations were being considered for 2019.
There were 24 trusts that said they had plans to amend
their policies to allow vaping this year, which shows a
steady liberalisation of policies separating e-cigarettes from
tobacco.
These progressions are in line with recommendations from
Public Health England (PHE), which published the following
after an updated evidence review into the safety and
effectiveness of e-cigarettes, in 2018:
“To become truly smokefree, NHS Trusts should ensure:
e-cigarettes, alongside nicotine replacement therapies, are
available for sale in hospital shops; vaping policies support
smokers to quit and stay smoke-free.”
The national public health body told Vapouround: “PHE
makes clear in our advice to trusts that e-cigarettes have
an important role to play, both in supporting smokers to
quit smoking and in supporting compliance with smokefree
policies.”
Mental health trusts were more likely to take this advice
to heart and allow vaping on site, with only 35 percent
prohibiting it compared to 61 percent of acute trusts.
Mental health trusts were also more lenient about vaping
indoors, as 33 percent said they allow the practice inside
hospital buildings, though restrictions on permitted
e-cigarette models were common. There was a preference
towards disposable, non-refillable models, as trusts feared
refillable tanks could be used to “covertly take illicit drugs,”
according to the report.
One trust, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership,
seems to be especially relaxed about vaping. It’s named
in the report as a trust that provides smoking in-patients
with free, disposable e-cigarettes. Vapouround approached
Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership, though they
declined to comment.
According to the report, Cornwall Partnership said it had
also been working to, “improve the availability of non-
rechargeable, non-refillable e-cigarettes to mental health
patients.”
Other trusts that responded to say they would be liberalising
their vaping policies were Taunton and Somerset and
Salisbury. The Salisbury trust told Vapouround that theirs is
a smoke-free site and their existing smoking shelters have
been kept in place, exclusively for use by e-cigarette users.
Staff and patients or visitors are actively encouraged by the
trust to use the shelters if they want to vape.
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells trust also have a shelter
dedicated to e-cigarette use, they told Vapouround: “Since
August 1 2018, our hospitals have been smoke-free. The
decision to become smoke-free was taken because we
know smoking has a significant negative impact on people’s
health – both those who smoke and passive smokers.
“While smoking is banned in the outside and surrounding
areas of both Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospitals,
vaping is permitted in designated areas. These areas are
signed, including a vape friendly shelter at the Tunbridge
Wells site.”
Other trusts expected e-cigarette users to either use the
same shelters as smokers or stand in a designated area. It
was not made clear whether such areas provided cover from
the elements.
The report ended with recommendations for vaping to be
permitted in all outdoor areas, and inside hospital buildings
at the discretion of management.
Though the majority of trusts still prohibit vaping on site,
Simon Clark, Director of Forest, believes the results paint a
largely positive picture. Referencing the increasing number
of trusts that allow vaping, he says in the report:
“The overwhelming majority of vapers are ex-smokers or
smokers who wish to cut down or quit smoking altogether so
banning the use of e-cigarettes on hospital premises never
made any sense.
“It’s encouraging therefore to see more trusts amending
their policies to allow vaping on site and even in hospital
buildings.”
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