Hospitals Give Grounds For Vape Hope
The PHE and RCP reports are forcing the NHS to rethink vaping policy
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by Dave Cross
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“E-cig ban is unfair and too far,” wrote Gloria Kestle in a letter to the Derbyshire Times, regarding the current ban on staff and patients vaping in the grounds of the Chesterfield Royal Hospital. “I think this total ban is both unfair and unreasonable since it has yet to be proven that passive smoking from e-cigs, which people are now using as an effective alternative to cigarettes, is harmful to non-smokers. I am sick of hearing all of the scaremongering on this subject, and I know that e-cigs do in fact help to reduce stress levels.”
Gloria’s call mirrors those made by harm reduction and smoking cessation experts. It is an opinion also shared by health chiefs in Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Previously, hospital staff were having to walk around to their cars parked off-site in order to smoke and the ban had done little to dissuade them from using traditional tobacco.
“We’re now allowing e-cigarettes on our grounds to give our patients, staff and visitors more choice in how they quit smoking,” Dr Emilia Crighton is reported as saying. “We have seen the percentage of people who smoke fall from 37.5 percent to 25 per cent over the past 10 years. I believe allowing e-cigarette use is the next tool in that fight and it will play a role in reducing that figure even more.”
It is a move that has met with some resistance. Scotland’s Daily Record erroneously claims that there is “mounting evidence that e-cigarettes are also toxic and that the flavouring chemical diacetyl, often found in them, is extremely harmful to the lungs.” They also selectively quote one reader saying: “Aside from the irony of damaging your health within the grounds of a health provider, the rise of e-cigs is negating a lot of the progress we’ve made since 2006.”
Fortunately such ridiculous notions are holding less sway than before. Even in Nottinghamshire, the county where the council has banned vaping for its employees while on the clock, progress is being made.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust, responsible for both the City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre, announced their reversal this week. As a first for England, all trust property will now allow vaping on site (as long as it is outside and away from the doorways).
“We have a duty to help our patients and staff make healthy life choices,” said medical director Dr Stephen Fowlie,”and can't ignore the potential benefits of electronic cigarettes as a nicotine replacement therapy. We're now allowing e-cigarettes on our grounds to give our patients, staff and visitors more choice in how they quit smoking.”
Planet of the Vapes welcomes the policy changes from Glasgow and Nottingham and hope that more NHS trusts in the UK see sense. For the time being, just their staff and visitors will be able to carry on vaping.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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