Lift ban on vaping on hospital grounds, says Forest

Tue 27th February, 2018

Forest has urged NHS Grampian to allow the use of e-cigarettes and other vaping devices on hospital grounds.

Simon Clark, director of Forest, said: "There is no evidence that e-cigarettes are harmful to either the user or those around them.

"Some people smoke because it's a comfort in difficult or stressful situations. If patients, staff and visitors are banned from smoking anywhere on hospital grounds, it's cruel to deny them the option of using a safer alternative nicotine delivery device."

In a submission to a survey being conducted by NHS Grampian, Clark added:

"E-cigarettes are mostly used by smokers who are in the process of quitting. Why would any hospital prohibit the use of a legitimate smoking cessation tool?

"We don’t believe it’s the role of the NHS to coerce smokers to quit by denying them an outdoor space where they can light up, but if administrators want to help smokers quit it seems counter-productive to ban the use of a product that 1.5 million people in the UK have used to help them quit smoking completely.

"There is not a single good reason to ban vaping on hospital grounds and we urge NHS Grampian to change its policy and allow the use of e-cigarettes and other vaping products within NHS Grampian Grounds."

See also: Five Scottish health boards review e-cigarette policy (BBC News, 25 December 2015)

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