smokefree hospitals

ASH Wales supports smokefree hospitals grounds and health care settings as these institutions have a duty of care to all who attend their sites. Whether they are patients, visitors or staff, supporting behaviours to improve the health of everyone must be at the fore. Allowing smoking fails to address or discourage a habit which will kill 1 in 2 long-term users through ill health and preventable diseases.

Wales will be leading the way and be an exemplar to the rest of the UK as it becomes the first country to implement smokefree legislation across every site from March 2021.

Strengthening the laws around smoking in public in Wales will further protect non-smokers from second-hand smoke and de-normalise smoking for children and young people.

Smoking is still the number one cause of preventable deaths in the UK with 100,000 dying annually due to its affects, including 28% of all cancer deaths.² In England there were 454,700 hospital admissions attributable to smoking³, whilst in Wales an average of 5,388 smoking-related deaths and 26,489 smoking-related hospital admissions occurred.

Patients are a key audience for quitting smoking as there are additional advantages to them post-treatment, including shorter hospital stays and fewer complications.⁴

The cost of smoking to the Welsh NHS specifically is likely to be around £302 million per year but could be as high as £436.6 million per year.

Second-hand smoke poses a health risk to all those around as smoke often drifts into buildings through entrances, windows and vents meant to supply clean air to wards. Hospitals are often home to vulnerable, poorly people, including premature babies, who need protection from poisonous smoke. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) conducted a review of evidence on second-hand smoke and found exposure to other people’s smoke increases the risk of lung cancer in non-smokers by 20-30% and coronary heart disease by 25-35%.⁵