N
F
E
R
NEWS
H
MENTAL HEALTH
FACILITY TO ISSUE
FREE STARTER
KITS TO SMOKERS
The VPZ and Lewisham Hospital partnership is
the fi rst of its kind
Words: Gordon Stribling
The UK’s largest mental health facility has teamed up
with VPZ to offer free vape starter kits to patients who
smoke.
The Ladywell Unit at Lewisham Hospital will issue
the 100 Hexa kits and VPZ hopes to roll out the
programme across the UK.
Nurse Consultant Mary Yates from the South London
and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Smoking
traps vulnerable people in poverty because it is so
expensive.
“This collaboration with VPZ has the potential to
transform the lives of our patients, taking them off
cigarettes, giving them more money and transforming
their health.”
Around 40 percent of people with mental health
conditions smoke, according to Action on Smoking
and Health (ASH). This is more than double the rate of
the general population.
Smokers with mental health problems die an average
of 10 to 20 years earlier than those without mental
health problems, the NHS has said.
ASH conducted a stop smoking survey of mental
health professionals from 33 trusts earlier this year.
The responses reflected the ongoing debate amongst
the medical community about the effectiveness and
safety of e-cigarettes.
ASH has recommended that NHS trusts ‘ensure that
staff receive education and training about evidence-
28 VM26
based interventions (including on e-cigarettes and
stop smoking medications) to help manage clients’
tobacco dependence and encourage them to quit.’
The new partnership is the latest initiative to bring
e-cigarettes into NHS hospital settings.
“We aim to roll-out the scheme
throughout the UK as we work
towards transforming the
health of the nation”
Ecigwizard opened stores in two Birmingham NHS
hospitals in July as part of a wider move to make the
sites entirely smoke-free.
VPZ director Doug Mutter said that the Lewisham
partnership was a ‘huge step forward’ for the industry
and NHS in the fi ght against tobacco.
He said: “Quitting smoking can be a challenge for any
long-term smoker but mental health patients face
an even tougher battle with their abilities to access
services reduced considerably.
“We will work closely with [the unit] to monitor the
impact of the project and aim to roll-out the scheme
throughout the UK as we work towards transforming
the health of the nation.”