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** 27 July 2023
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** UK
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** Hundreds of hospital patients quit smoking in NHS plan (#1)
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** Fresh spending crackdown as NHSE is accused of ‘micro-managing’ (#2)
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** Punters could face affordability checks every six months under new proposals triggered by white paper (#3)
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** E-cigarettes spark new health fears over ‘vape tongue’ phenomenon (#4)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** Parliamentary Questions (#5)
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** UK
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** Hundreds of hospital patients quit smoking in NHS plan

Hundreds of hospital patients across the Humber and North Yorkshire have stopped smoking thanks to a new treatment plan, care providers said.

More than 2,000 patients have attended since the rollout in August 2022, with a third now "completely smoke-free".

The scheme, run by the Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, is free for NHS staff and patients.

Peter Roderick, Consultant in Public Health for the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, said: "Smoking has a huge negative impact on health - cigarettes kill two out of every three users.

"Rather than simply telling people not to smoke when they come to hospital, offering effective tobacco dependency treatment is the most important thing we can do to free people from addiction, reduce their chances of having to come back to hospital and help them live longer, healthier and happier lives."

The new service aims to offer a more "seamless experience" by bringing together hospital trusts, local government, community stop smoking services, pharmacy and public health teams.

Of the patients seen in hospital so far, more than 60% went on to make a plan to quit, experts said.

Source: BBC news, 26 July 2023
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** Fresh spending crackdown as NHSE is accused of ‘micro-managing’

Fifteen health systems that submitted deficit plans have been told to review all their staffing vacancies to ‘consider where the removal or freezing of posts is appropriate’.

NHS England has told trusts and integrated care boards to provide a “full justification” for staffing increases during the pandemic, including clinical posts, and produce a plan to cut these posts where “value for money is not demonstrated”.

The new controls on spending at the 15 integrated care systems come after they defied pressure from NHSE and refused to submit breakeven financial plans.

In an apparent nod to the NHS’s productivity challenges, the letter, which was sent last month and published in a report to North East and North Cumbria ICB, also requests a “complete reconciliation of staff increases since 19/20, with full justification for post increases”.

A spokesman said NHSE was ensuring “that every pound of NHS funding delivers the best value for patients”.

HSJ reported earlier this year that trusts in deficit were being pushed to hold down staffing numbers, in part to address the productivity conundrum that has seen steeper increases in clinical staff numbers since 2020, while hospital activity has been largely flat.

A trust CEO in the Midlands warned of a “clear steer” from NHSE that clinical staffing numbers should be contained or even reduced, given wider financial pressures. It is thought many systems which have planned for breakeven are also under similar pressure.

Helen Buckingham, director of strategy at the Nuffield Trust, said: “The financial controls expected by NHSE appear to show a lack of trust and a micro-managing approach. Centralising decision-making on local budgets is rarely an effective approach to cost control as those being asked to make such decisions have less information to judge the risks involved.

“Local leaders are acutely aware of the need to ensure patient safety alongside good financial management, but, unfortunately, it is all too plain to see that straitened financial circumstances have led to a deterioration in patient, and staff, experience.”

Source: HSJ, 27 July 2023
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** Punters could face affordability checks every six months under new proposals triggered by white paper

Punters could face having to undergo affordability checks as often as every six months under proposals put out to public consultation by the Gambling Commission on Wednesday and triggered by the UK government's white paper on the reform of gambling laws.

Under the proposals, any customer with a net loss of £1,000 over a rolling 24-hour period or £2,000 over 90 days could be forced to undergo an enhanced check into their finances as often as twice a year, with the trigger dropping to £500 and £1,000 for under 25s.

For the purposes of calculating a net loss, the Gambling Commission also proposes to ignore any money won more than seven days ago for those at the £1,000 threshold and 90 days ago at the £2,000 threshold. This would mean that anyone betting with the proceeds of a big win could still be forced to prove they could afford their gambling, despite being comfortably in profit.

The new details were revealed in a consultation document published by the Gambling Commission that forms part of the implementation of 'financial risk checks', the government's preferred term for controversial affordability checks and a key proposal in the much-delayed white paper.

Gambling minister Stuart Andrew – the sixth minister to have responsibility for the white paper since the review was announced in 2020 – said the reforms would make laws "fit for the smartphone age".

Source: The Racing Post, 26 July 2023

See also: Department for Culture, Media and Sport - Gambling white paper consultations published in step forward for reform ([link removed]) | The Gambling Commission - Have your say on plans to make gambling safer and fairer ([link removed])
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** E-cigarettes spark new health fears over ‘vape tongue’ phenomenon

A dentist on TikTok has warned that vaping can destroy your sense of taste because of how it affects your tongue.

The growing number of people using e-cigarettes is causing more people to be struck down by a phenomenon branded “vape tongue”.

Dr Stewart Beggs, a cosmetic dentist at Chelsea Dental Clinic in London, said the issue is caused by people “absolutely caning these vapes”.

In a video on TikTok, he warned the trend is being driven by the popularity of disposable e-cigarettes.

He said: “So vape tongue is when you start to lose your taste because you’ve been vaping so much.

“This is really on the rise because of the popularity of these disposable vapes, which have all these ridiculous flavours.

Source: The Sun, 26 July 2023

Editorial note: This story does not appear to be based on peer reviewed evidence. There is robust evidence that smoking can damage your tastebuds and that this improves after smokers have quit: [link removed]

For evidence-based information about the impact of vaping on oral health please see: Vaping and oral health – an update for the dental team ([link removed])
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** Parliamentary Activity

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** Written Questions
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** Asked by Rachael Maskell, Labour, York Central

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that public health messages on vaping are targeted at adults.

Answered by Neil O'Brien, Minister for Public Health

The Government’s public health messaging on vaping is clear, that vapes should only be recommended to support adult smokers quitting. They are not recommended for under-18s or non-smokers.

For example, on the Better Health website, we state that: “While vaping can help smokers quit, it is not harmless and is not for young people under 18. It is especially important to protect young lungs and brains.” The full page can be viewed at the following link:
[link removed]

Source: Hansard, 24 July 2023

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** Asked by Rachael Maskell, Labour, York Central

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide additional resources to local public health teams to support stop vaping programmes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to create stop vaping programmes for (a) adults and (b) children and young people.

Answered by Neil O'Brien, Minister for Public Health
As part of the national Swap to Stop scheme, we will be developing a stop vaping programme to help support adult vapers to be nicotine free. This component of the programme will be commissioned later this year.

Local stop smoking services can also provide resources to support children and adult vapers to quit, through funding from the public health grant.

We also launched a call for evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of under 18s accessing and using vape products. The call for evidence has now closed, and the government will be considering a range of options based on the evidence provided.

Source: Hansard, 24 July 2023
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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