Trial of free vapes from A&E helped more people quit smoking

Giving out free vapes in A&E helped to double the number of people that quit smoking cigarettes, a trial has found.

Around a quarter of the 24 million people that attend an NHS emergency department each year are smokers.

Researchers found that by giving smokers an e-cigarette starter pack, which included a vape and a referral to stop smoking services, they were almost twice as likely to successfully quit after six months compared to standard NHS care.

The trial involved almost 1,000 people who smoked cigarettes at six NHS hospitals in England and Scotland.

Half of the participants were given the vape starter packs and the other half were given information about local stop smoking services, which is the advice routinely provided.

Almost one in four, or 23.9 per cent, of the smokers that left A&E with a free vape had quit after six months, compared to 12.9 per cent who did not.

The study, led by the Norwich Clinical Trials Unit at the University of East Anglia (UEA), also found that the people who were given vapes but did not manage to quit smoking were more likely to cut down the number of cigarettes they smoked.

Dr Ian Pope, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School and an emergency doctor, said there was a “valuable opportunity for people to be supported to quit smoking” when they attend A&E.

He said it would “improve their chances of recovery from whatever has brought them to hospital, and also prevent future illness”.

“Swapping to e-cigarettes could save thousands of lives,” he said. “We believe that if this intervention was widely implemented it could result in more than 22,000 extra people quitting smoking each year.”

76,000 deaths each year

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the UK. It is the cause of as many as 76,000 deaths each year, according to the NHS, while thousands more live with debilitating smoking-related illnesses.

The Government has pledged to ban smoking and create a “smoke-free generation”. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, if it becomes law, will ensure that children who are turning 15 this year and younger can never legally be sold tobacco.

It will also ban disposable vapes and place new restrictions on flavours and packaging designed to appeal to children, with Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, vowing to “stop our kids getting hooked on nicotine”.

The Government’s proposals aim to prevent children and teenagers from smoking and vaping.

The researchers said their trial results showed that vapes were a suitable tool to help people quit cigarettes.

The trial lasted 30 months and took place at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, the Royal London Hospital and Homerton University Hospital in London, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. The hospitals are no longer giving out vape starter packs.

An NHS spokesman said: “Smoking costs the NHS and the taxpayer billions every year in avoidable health and social care costs. Encouraging more people to stop smoking tobacco will support them to have healthier lives.”

The study was published in the Emergency Medicine Journal.