The incident at Sunderland Royal Hospital left a woman in her 50s with burns to her head and caused damage to a ward room.

Jim Charlton, fire safety and security manager, said: ‘This shocking incident shows exactly why we ask our patients and visitors not to vape inside our buildings.  We do that to keep everyone safe. This patient has been left injured by what happened, but it is fortunate it was not even more serious.'

Staff working on the ward were praised for their quick actions during the incident. They turned the oxygen off and put out the fire with an extinguisher, stopping it from spreading and causing further injury and damage. The fire alarm in the area was set off by the heat and fumes.

Six smoking incidents and 11 vaping incidents have been reported within the trust's hospital buildings in the last six months. Fire alarms have been set off on a further three occasions in smoking incidents.

On several occasions, patients involved have been verbally abusive and/or refused to follow the rules.

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust is preparing to lead a campaign, No Excuse For Abuse, which will address the verbal and physical threats its staff face as they care for communities and urge people to think about the impact of their bad behaviour.