The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
NHS plea for smoke ban to be enforced
CALLS FOR legislation banning smoking in hospital grounds across Scotland appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
The plea by the chairman of NHS Fife’s operational division followed the shocking revelation that newborn babies were breathing in the fumes of people smoking at the entrance to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
Horrified midwives have claimed the smoke is wafting through the windows of the maternity unit at the hospital’s new wing.
Although NHS Fife has a no-smoking policy in all hospital buildings and grounds, there are no sanction for those who flout it, making it difficult to enforce.
Division chairman David Stewart last week called for legislation making it an offence to smoke in the entire hospital site.
He said: “The Government is passing legislation to make it an offence to smoke in your car, and I would have thought it would be easier to make it illegal to smoke at a hospital.”
However, a Scottish Government spokesperson told The Courier the matter was an operational one for NHS Fife.
That view was backed by Labour’s health spokesman Dr Richard Simpson, who said: “They should not look to Parliament for legislation.
“The power lands with them and they should act now.”
He added: “They should have shelters some distance away from the main entrance to ensure smoke is not going in the windows.
“It’s not appropriate to have members of the public and staff running the gauntlet of people smoking at the main entrance.” NHS Fife is reviewing its smoking policy and staff have been encouraged to point out the no-smoking rule and ask patients and visitors to extinguish their cigarettes.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Tobacco use remains one of Scotland’s most significant public health challenges and is the biggest preventable cause of illhealth and premature death in Scotland.
“We are recognised as a leader on tobacco control and we want to continue to to prevent the harm caused by smoking. “This is an operational matter for NHS Fife who are reviewing possible solutions to this problem, however, the Scottish Government will publish a new tobacco control strategy later this year, which will include measures for protecting people from other people’s smoke.”