Scots health boards consider lifting e-cigarette ban in hospitals

FIVE health boards in Scotland are considering lifting their ban on using electronic cigarettes in hospital grounds.

Scottish health boards are reviewing their policy on e-cigarettes on hospital grounds. Picture: PA

Health chiefs in Ayrshire and Arran, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Lanarkshire and Tayside are reviewing their policies on “vaping” devices.

It came after NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said it would change its policy.

The board announced it would allow e-cigarettes after new evidence showed they can help smokers quit.

Tobacco smoking was banned from the grounds of all hospitals, health centres and GP surgeries in Scotland in April.

Each health board was given discretion over whether to allow “vaping” in outside areas.

At the time NHS Lothian was the only one of the 13 health boards to allow their restricted use.

The policy reviews follow guidance published by Health Scotland in November, which recommended that smoking cessation services should support people who used
e-cigarettes to quit smoking.

It also stated that, in deciding whether to allow the outdoor use of e-cigarettes in hospital grounds, boards must balance the benefits to smokers with any concerns about the impact to non-smokers.