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New guidance is being prepared to help mental health service providers in Scotland take the next step towards banning smoking.

Although smoking has been banned in public places since 2006, there has been an exemption to allow smoking to continue in designated rooms in mental health institutions.

Following a recent consultation, Public Health Minister Shona Robison announced today that guidance would be produced to help mental health service providers move towards banning smoking altogether.

Among the consultation's findings were:

• Allowing smoking rooms in mental health settings does nothing to shift the established culture of smoking
• Although more needs to be done to move towards a smoke-free mental health service, there was no clear consensus about how this should be achieved.

Ms Robison said:

"The numbers of smokers in Scotland continues to decline and we want more people to quit.

"Having consulted with both individuals and organisations within the mental health services, and listened to their varying opinions, this decision to produce guidance material to drive change will, I believe, deliver the results we all want.

"Whilst it will drive change, it will do so at a pace which is acceptable to the service and, most importantly, to service users themselves.

"We're committed to putting in place appropriate smoking cessation advice and providing support in our aim to make Scotland smoke-free."

The guidance, which the Scottish Government aim to produce by the end of the year, will set out advice on how best to go about achieving a smoke-free mental health service, drawing on best practice from places where it has already been achieved. It will be led by NHS Health Scotland in consultation with stakeholders and service users, and with input from the Mental Health Nursing and Allied Health Professional Advisors.

Scotland's smoke-free legislation, introduced on March 26 2006, currently includes an exemption for "designated rooms" in psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric wards.

In Scotland, the overwhelming majority of other workplaces, including hospitals, have successfully implemented the smoke-free laws.

The consultation process included organisations, individuals, service providers and service users.

• Around half (51 per cent) of respondents recommended retaining the legal status quo
• Over one-third (35 per cent) recommended that the exemption be removed
• Overall individual respondents were more in favour of retaining the exemption (55 per cent) compared with organisational bodies (41 per cent)
• NHS bodies were most likely (63 per cent) to recommend removing the exemption
• A common view was that long-stay and elderly patients should be treated differently from short-stay patients, with a greater accommodation of their smoking preferences

Smoke-free policies have already been successfully implemented in several mental health settings. The following Mental Health Services have all removed smoking-rooms: Southern General Hospital (Glasgow), Leverndale Hospital (Glasgow), Dykebar Hospital (Paisley) and Carstairs.

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