Hospitals still not smoke-free

Although smoke-free policies have been introduced at all NHS Hospital Trusts a study by researchers at The University of Nottingham has found that smoking is still prevalent, even by staff in uniform. Researchers in the School of Community Health Sciences conclude that effective enforcement is critical and more must be done to find better ways of supporting staff to engage effectively in enforcement, manage nicotine withdrawal and stop smoking on site. The study was carried out to determine the extent of smoke-free policy implementation in English NHS acute and mental health Trusts and to explore the challenges and impact faced by management. The questionnaire-based survey also involved 22 telephone interviews. Researchers also visited 15 different Trusts in three English regions - 10 of which were acute trusts covering 17 different sites. Patients and visitors were observed smoking at 94 per cent of acute sites and staff were seen smoking in 35 per cent of them. Lead researcher Elena Ratschen said: "Whilst I was encouraged that Trusts have made an effort to introduce comprehensive smoke-free policies, I was surprised about the lack of enforcement when I made the site visits.