Smoking interactive

I really enjoyed reading through the results of your discussions about smoking and eye health. I suspect that, had we run such an exercise just five years ago, we would have received many responses suggesting that, as smoking is a lifestyle choice, it is not really the business of the ECP undertaking any interaction with a patient in practice.

Perhaps, as I have heard many times in the past, some may have thought that raising the topic risked antagonising a patient and so is best left alone. Though there were some elements of these views implied in some of your responses, the overwhelming view in your discussions appeared to be that smoking is an important influence upon eye health and definitely does fall within the remit of the ECP.

Background