People are probably going to be a lot more receptive to giving up smoking while in hospital

Professor Martin Jarvis OBE

Dr Marcus Munafo of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund said: "Smokers who are hospitalised need more help from the NHS to quit smoking.

"The results from the study show that giving help to patients while in hospital will double the chances of success.

"Smoking is the biggest single cause of lung cancer and by stopping you can significantly lower your chances of developing the disease."

The study also found any contact in hospital with even minimal follow-up sessions carries up to a 30% increase in patients quitting smoking.

Lack of advice

However, few hospital medical professionals offer advice or support to people wanting to give up, despite this being an ideal time, say researchers.

It is usually left to a limited number of smoking cessation clinics when people becomes outpatients.

Cancer expert Professor Martin Jarvis OBE, from University College Hospital, said: "It makes an awful lot of sense to deliver help to smokers through the hospital because a lot of smokers go in to hospital.

"People are probably going to be a lot more receptive to giving up smoking while in hospital.

"Hopefully this kind of research shows how important it is the NHS invests in this type of support in hospital."

The study looked at 5,738 hospitalised smokers across Europe and North America between 1990 and 2000.

Lung cancer is the single biggest killer in the UK.

Only 5% of the 40,000 people diagnosed in the UK each year survive the disease beyond five years.