The health and social care body NICE has opened consultation on draft guidance to help people stop smoking in secondary care, with a focus on acute mental health services and maternity.
The proposed recommendations advise what effective actions can be taken to help people using these services and the staff - in hospitals and community clinics - to stop smoking completely or temporarily.
Professor Mike Kelly, director of the NICE Centre for Public Health, said: "The benefits of stopping smoking are well known, and people are already required by law not to smoke inside enclosed or mostly enclosed buildings.
"This draft guidance sets out proposals on supporting people in a hospital environment not to smoke, as well as supporting the smoke-free policies in hospitals."
The draft proposes that duty of care should routinely provide advice on how to improve health with stop smoking interventions.
The proposals include providing intensive support to stop smoking for those using acute mental health and maternity services.
The draft guidance, Smoking cessation: acute, maternity and mental health services, will be open for public consultation from 5 April until 5 June.
According to NICE, treating smoking-related illnesses costs the NHS an estimated £2.7bn each year.
