Background
Brief cessation advice from healthcare professionals significantly increases the likelihood of patients quitting smoking, yet patients are not routinely provided with this advice. Smoke-free Brief cessation advice from healthcare professionals significantly increases the likelihood of patients quitting smoking, yet patients are not routinely provided with this advice. Smoke-free hospital policies aim to protect individuals from the adverse effects of smoking, however it is not clear if it encourages patients to quit or doctors to give smoking cessation advice. The aim was to determine the prevalence of smoking and cessation advice received by in- patients in two teaching hospitals in Ireland, which have smoke-free hospital policies. We also compared data from one hospital from before and after the policy implementation.