PATIENTS waiting for routine surgery are being told to stop smoking before they go under the knife.

A new policy in Oxfordshire means doctors must enrol patients in stop smoking classes while they are waiting for surgery.

Similarly, obese people awaiting for medical procedures are also instructed to lose weight before their own procedures.

Body mass index (BMI) is a measure that most people can use to check if their weight is healthy for their height.

A BMI of more than 30 is classed as clinically obese.

Patients are forced to enrol in the stop smoking classes, but health bosses said they would not turn people away from surgery if they did not comply, unless the patient was deemed at risk.

A spokesman for NHS Oxfordshire said: “When a patient is put on the waiting list for surgery, their GP practice will receive notification from the hospital that the patient should be referred to a stop smoking advisor.

“All patients on the waiting list for elective surgery should be encouraged by their GP or practice nurse to participate in a ‘waiting list’ smoking cessation programme in order to improve the outcomes of their surgery and minimise the potential for complications.”

The policy was introduced this year. It comes after NHS Hertfordshire, which caused controversy last year by banning hip and knee operations for patients with a BMI over 30 and for smokers until they quit, has extended the policy to all routine surgery.

Hertfordshire’s new policy, introduced in January, ‘blocks any patient with a BMI over 30 or a smoker from being referred for all routine surgery’ except in neurology, cardiac and any surgery to do with cancer. NHS Oxfordshire said the same policy did not exist locally and there were currently no plans to introduce something similar.

But its new “enhanced recovery” programme was welcomed by patients last night.

Jim and Kathleen Woodall, from Chadlington, near Chipping Norton, smoked almost a million cigarettes between them before stubbing out their habit for good two years ago.

But they vowed to change their ways when 66-year-old Mr Woodall suffered a heart attack.

Mrs Woodall said: “I think because of the anaesthetic you have to go under for certain operations it sounds like a good idea to be generally healthier.

“Maybe giving up just before going for a major operation might be a difficult time to do it, but I’d definitely recommend people go for it and get all the support they can.”

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “Decisions on treatments, including suitability for surgery, should be made by clinicians based on what is best for the patient.”