Patients find it useful to receive quit-smoking help while at hospital accident and emergency

Giving out vapes at accident and emergency (A&E) departments in England and Scotland boosted patients' confidence to switch away from smoking, according to new research.

A University of East Anglia led study in collaboration with Exeter and other partner institutions has looked at how well a smoking cessation program worked when offered to people unexpectedly in emergency departments. The paper is published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

Lead author Professor Caitlin Notley, Professor of Addiction Sciences and Director of the Lifespan Health Research Centre, University of East Anglia, said, "Hospital emergency departments provide an excellent opportunity to help people quit smoking, but there might be concerns about whether it's the right place for such interventions.

"We discovered that most people enrolled in our trial found it beneficial to receive brief help to quit smoking while in A&E. Many knew they probably had a long time until they would be seen and were amenable to speaking to stop-smoking staff while they waited. Our research suggests that A&E departments are an opportune location to support smoking cessation to improve long-term health."