BTS responds to the RCP report: Smoking and Health 2021

It is one of the British Thoracic Society goals to see the total elimination of tobacco-related lung disease in the UK population, and we therefore warmly welcome the Royal College of Physicians' report Smoking and Health 2021: a coming of age for tobacco control and its wide ranging recommendations.

We particularly align with the RCP’s recommendation of focussing on stop smoking services whenever a patient comes in contact with the NHS, making it a requirement to opt-out of smoking cessation.

Our audit of NHS smoking cessation services published in 2020, which will repeated later this year, found that less than half (44%) of smokers admitted to hospital were asked if they would like help to quit, and only 1 in 8 were then referred to a hospital or community-based smoking cessation service. Also, worryingly, only 38% hospitals had an in-house smoking cessation service.

Professor Jon Bennett, Chair of BTS said: “Whenever a patient is admitted to hospital, we have a golden opportunity to help and support them quitting smoking for good.

“Referrals to on-site smoking cessation services must become the norm for all patients who smoke, and these services should have as a minimum, dedicated leadership, smoking cessation training for staff and access to a comprehensive range of pharmacotherapy and nicotine replacement products.

“But we also agree with the RCP that these measures won’t be enough alone, so it’ good to see recommendations covering taxation and smokefree legislation.

“The largest proportion of smokers come from disadvantaged or lower socio-economic groups, causing deep health inequalities. So we welcome the focus on initiatives that do not discriminate but support these groups to quit and reduce the number of new smokers.”