Scottish health boards reconsider vaping bans

Five more health boards in Scotland are considering lifting their bans on using electronic cigarettes in hospital grounds, according to a story by Nichola Rutherford for BBC Scotland.

Health chiefs in Ayrshire and Arran, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Lanarkshire and Tayside decided to review their policies on vaping devices after NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said it would change its policy because of new evidence showing the devices could help people quit tobacco smoking.

Tobacco smoking was banned from the grounds of all hospitals, health centres and GP surgeries in Scotland in April, but each health board was given discretion over whether to allow vaping in outside areas.

At that time, NHS Lothian was the only one of the 13 health boards to allow the restricted use of vaping devices.

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

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