Leeds scientists say more research needed into e-cigs before they're in hospitals

Hospitals should sell e-cigarettes to patients and switch smoking shelters to vaping lounges, health officials have said.

Patients should be allowed to vape in private rooms and purchase e-cigarette devices in hospital shops, Public Health England (PHE) said.

Meanwhile, Government officials should help manufacturers licence e-cigarettes as medical quitting aids.

Such a move would allow GPs to prescribe the devices to their patients who are trying to stop smoking.

The calls come after PHE published its latest independent review into the evidence surrounding e-cigarettes.

Experts concluded that vaping only poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking.

E-cigarettes could be contributing to 20,000 new quits each year, they estimated.

But the number of people using the products has "plateaued'' and now stands at just under three million people in the UK, according to the review, which was conducted by experts from King's College London and the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, the University of Stirling and Cancer Research UK.

Researchers found that thousands of smokers "incorrectly'' believe that vaping is as harmful as smoking and two in five smokers had not even tried an e-cigarette.

Martin Dockrell, tobacco control lead for PHE, said: "We are saying no smoking anywhere on the grounds of hospitals, no smoking in the smoking shelter - that shelter becomes a vaping shelter.

"There are two parts to being a smoke-free hospital, one is not allowing smoking on the premises, the other is helping every smoker to quit.

"Some hospitals will decide, especially with their longer-term patients or patients who don't have a choice whether they are there or not, where it will be appropriate to have spaces indoors to have spaces where vaping is permitted.

"The strongest case for that is psychiatric hospitals because these patients have got the highest prevalence of smoking and the highest levels of smoking related harm.

"Single occupancy rooms are quite common in mental health trusts so that makes it very easy for people to vape in a single occupancy room without any annoyance to anybody else.''

Researchers at Leeds Beckett University have said that more research is needed into vaping about the long term effects before these recommendations are put in place.

Dr Stuart Flint, Senior Research Fellow at Leeds Beckett’s University Carnegie School of Sport, says not enough is known about the long-term health effects of e-cigarettes and suggesting they are a ‘healthier alternative’ to normal cigarettes is worrying.

Dr Flint recently wrote a letter, which was published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, expressing his concerns:

“Offering e-cigarettes as an alternative to normal cigarettes, alongside evidence-based medicinal products, such as nicotine patches, is premature, and preliminary evidence even suggests e-cigarette use may actually have a harmful effect in relevant patient groups.

“We need to understand more about the potential health effects of e-cigarettes before they are promoted as a safe alternative.

“NICE have previously called for caution regarding recommendations for e-cigarettes as a suitable alternative due to lack of evidence regarding long-term health effects. This contradicts the view of a range of expert advice.

“Until there is substantial evidence on the health implications of e-cigarettes, it is irresponsible, unethical and potentially harmful for health organisations to promote the use of e-cigarettes."

But Professor John Newton, director for health improvement at PHE, said: "Every minute someone is admitted to hospital from smoking, with around 79,000 deaths a year in England alone.

"Our new review reinforces the finding that vaping is a fraction of the risk of smoking, at least 95% less harmful, and of negligible risk to bystanders.

"Yet over half of smokers either falsely believe that vaping is as harmful as smoking or just don't know.

"It would be tragic if thousands of smokers who could quit with the help of an e-cigarette are being put off due to false fears about their safety.''