Contributors included BTOG steering committee member, Professor Matthew Evison. This report focuses on the entrenched injustice caused by tobacco and the disadvantaged communities where smoking prevalence remains very high – poverty, homelessness, social housing, mental health. The report focuses on the responsibility of the NHS – where there are opportunistic interactions with these communities – to deliver comprehensive opt-out interventions in all areas – inpatients, outpatient, and in the emergency department.
One area this is critically important is cancer clinics and there is very robust evidence that supporting a patient to be smokefree at the time of a diagnosis of lung cancer makes treatment more effective, reduces complications & improves survival.
BTOG supports the recommendations of this report that make smoking services an integrated component of lung cancer services a standard of care and improve outcomes for patients diagnosed with lung cancer.
