PhysioUpdate News 19th December 2023

Smoking-related hospital admissions in England increased by nearly 5 per cent in 2022-23 in comparison to the previous year, but they remain lower than before the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 400,000 people were admitted to hospitals in England in the year 2021-22 with health problems that were due to smoking, an increase of 4.8 per cent on the previous one.

The figures, which were published today (16 December) in NHS England’s Statistics on Public Health, 2023, show that the number of admissions totalled 408,700 – up from 389,800 in the previous year.

The report also covers 2020-21, when there were 314,100 admissions attributed to smoking – a figure that was consistent with fewer hospital admissions overall being recorded in that year. Smoking-related admissions in each of the past three years were lower than in 2019-20 – prior to the Covid-19 pandemic – when the number stood at 446,400.

About one person in six (16%) who went into hospital with a respiratory disease in 2022-23 had an issue related to smoking, it is estimated, while the habit also caused 8 per cent of all admissions for cancers and 7 per cent of those for cardiovascular diseases.

In an exclusive article for PhysioUpdate, clinical lead physiotherapist Emma Chaplin reports from the British Thoracic Society’s (BTS) winter meeting, which took place at the QEII Centre in London from 22-24 November. Her report follows:

‘Running up that hill: rehabilitation interventions in chronic respiratory diseases’ was a spoken session on the second morning of the BTS’s winter meeting, which was held from 22-24 November. Pop music aficionados will recognise that the presenter borrowed part of the title from a popular Kate Bush song. This idea was something of a theme for this fascinating series of sessions: other titles included ‘The long and winding road’ and ‘The beat goes on’.

I had a chance to hear about non-mainstream strategies in pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) that could potentially broaden the scope of practice. Two abstracts discussed the models using co-design methodologies. Perhaps we should all be taking a patient and public involvement and engagement approach when designing service developments and research studies.

The first abstract discussed walking football as a way to increase, or maintain, physical activity levels in patients with chronic breathlessness. It illuminated the difficulties of incorporating people with such conditions into existing sports programmes for older adults. We need to promote inclusivity by incorporating devices, facilitating access and allowing time for socialising.