Jump to full article: Politics.co.uk (uk), 2008-05-01
Intro: Attitudes towards non-smoking policies among in-patients in psychiatric units differ considerably from those of the general population, raising the question whether some compromise should be introduced when mental health trusts are required to adopt the policy later this year.
Whilst 89.6% of the public believe that smoking should be banned in public places, only 54.1% of psychiatric in-patients agree with the idea. 71.1% of in-patients support a general non-smoking policy in hospital with designated smoking areas.
On 1st July 2007 all enclosed or substantially enclosed public places and work places became smoke free, as required by The Health Act 2006. A temporary exemption for mental health units ends on 1st July 2008. Until then, they may have a designated smoking room meeting specified requirements. . . .
This study reinforces previous findings that smoking is more prevalent among psychiatric patients than in the general population. As the majority of in-patients, both smokers and non-smokers, felt that there should be smoking areas within psychiatric units, can any appropriate compromise be reached in view of the current legislation, ask the researchers?
It would be interesting to know, they say, whether these results are mirrored elsewhere in the country, and whether patients' views are changing following implementation of tighter smoking policies within NHS trusts. It would also be worth evaluating the level of compliance with such policies.
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