E Cigarettes Sold in Hospitals

Two hospitals in the UK are allowing e cigarettes to be sold on-site to patients and visitors, a move which shows just how accepted vaping is these days. With a complete ban on smoking in or on NHS grounds, the move to offer e cigarettes has surprised some and delighted others. 

E Cigarettes To Combat Smoking on NHS Grounds

Sandwell General Hospital in West Bromwich and Birmingham’s City Hospital have both set up outlets in order to sell e cigarettes and eliquids. The move has come as part of an ongoing campaign to stamp out smoking.

In order to completely wipe cigarette smoking on NHS Trust grounds these two hospitals police the ban, using CCTV cameras, trained enforcement staff and they reserve the right to issue fines of up to fifty pounds to those caught smoking on the grounds. With the damage to health, smoking can cause having been proven beyond all doubt it is good to see the no smoking rules having been so proactively upheld. E cigarettes sold in hospitals will not undermine these rules, far from it.

It is well recognised that giving up smoking has significant benefits to your health. These benefits only continue if you give up smoking long term and do not return to your tobacco smoking habit. Vaping has been proven to help smokers move away from smoking where other methods have not been successful and to provide a valid alternative to switch to if giving up altogether/not wanting to give up many of the habits associated with smoking is something people are facing.

Why Does Vaping Help Smokers Quit

Vaping helps smokers quit in many ways, which is partly why e cigarettes being sold is hospitals is a good move. Smoking is a hard habit to walk away from, for many reasons. You are not only addicted to nicotine and other chemicals in tobacco cigarettes, but you have also formed a habit around the physical aspects of smoking namely the hand to mouth action, inhaling and exhaling, having something in your hand and so on and more. Habits are mental as well as physical so there is something else to contend with. You are used to smoking, are drawn to the habit and you crave the relaxation you enjoyed when smoking. No wonder it is so hard to give up. You are literally fighting battles on numerous fronts. This is where vaping comes in. Vaping is the cleaner alternative to smoking which gives you the inhale and exhale action, having something in your hand, the relaxation and more. As e liquids can contain nicotine in varying strengths (or be nicotine free) you can bypass nicotine withdrawal and gradually reduce the strength, if wished. 

In short, the reason that you are going to find vaping a good alternative to smoking and one that will help you give up is that vaping removed many of the things that smokers struggle to leave behind. E cigarettes sold in hospitals simply enables access to e cigarettes to those in hospital or visiting, recognising that this can be a stressful time and one that might send ex-smokers back to their previous and harmful habit.

Does Selling E Cigarettes in a Hospital Send the Wrong Message

We don’t think so. Indeed, if anything this backs up what Public Health England is trying to do; help smokers find the best alternative to smoking and the healthiest and most successful methods of helping them quit their tobacco cigarette use. While vaping is relatively new compared to smoking, much research has been undertaken regarding this smoking alternative and Public Health England have embraced it and advocate for its use. 

In May 2018 Public Health England (PHE) released their vaping review, into which much research, scientific studies and more were used to produce. On the back on the PHE Vaping Review, PHE has been publicly hailed as being at least 95% less harmful than tobacco cigarettes. With this in mind PHE supported by many others who are looking to eliminate the harm done by smoking has lobbied the government to have e cigarettes recognised as cessation devices. This recognition would mean that GPs could prescribe vaping to smokers looking to give up smoking. While this hasn’t get been pushed through it is clear that the NHS support the move and are keen to adopt vaping as a method to hit targets of the UK being completely smoke free in 2030.

In Conclusion

The more accepted vaping is, the more support it gets from the Government and other official bodies, the more likely people are going to consider it in order to quit tobacco smoking. Offering e cigarettes for sale in hospitals will help avoid those in a hospital or regularly visiting slide back into smoking and offers a message that using e cigarettes and e liquids is by far the better option. What is your opinion of e cigarettes being sold inside NHS hospitals? Do you agree that it is a good idea or do you think it might be a bad move?