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Hospital's £15k plan to shelter smokers has campaigners fuming
Last updated at 14:37pm on 14.11.06
No smoke without fire: Kingston Hospital is strapped for cash yet spent thousands on a smoking shelter
Health campaigners condemned today a hospital's plan to build a £15,000 shelter for smokers.
The project comes in advance of a government ban on smoking in public places and as the hospital is making cuts of £7.5million and laying off staff. Kingston Hospital said the weather-proof shelter was being built in response to complaints from residents who objected to staff and patients congregating to smoke in the streets. They began smoking outside after the hospital banned smoking in its buildings at the start of the year.
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But health campaigners said providing an outdoor space for smokers was not the answer. Amanda Sandford of anti-smoking campaign Ash said: "This is not a good use of money. Hospitals are over-stretched already, with limited resources.
"A better use of the money would be to put it into 'stop smoking' projects for staff and patients.
"There's very little need for provision for short-term visitors because the general expectation is that if you visit a hospital you don't smoke.
"It's more difficult for longerterm patients and staff but even so it should be a basic requirement that anyone working in the health sector does not smoke.
"It's so detrimental to everyone's health that it sends out the wrong message. This is just totally inappropriate."
But Geoff Martin of London Health Emergency said: "It's a fact that a lot of people smoke in the health service. While plenty would like to stop, to deny them their one vice is not really going to help. You need to look at the root cause of why health service workers are smokers.
"It's a very stressful job and Kingston is making £7.5 million of cuts and getting rid of 100 staff so people are really worried about their futures."
A spokeswoman for Kingston Hospital said: "We became a smoke-free site in January this year, which means that smoking isn't allowed in our building or on our grounds. This applies to patients, visitors and staff and is in line with government policy.
"However, this meant that visitors and members of staff started going off-site to smoke and were using neighbouring roads as a regular place for smoking.
"After receiving some complaints from local residents we held a public meeting last month to discuss the best way to resolve the situation. We decided to apply for planning permission for a shelter to be constructed with appropriate seating and waste bins on the very edge of the site, just inside the perimeter wall.
"This was felt to be a reasonable solution to preventing staff and visitors from smoking in neighbouring roads but still complying with a smoke-free hospital site."
Reader views (5)
I would like to take this opportunity of congratulating Kingston Hospital NHS Trust for acknowledging the fact that smokers are not criminals and it is not illegal. I further congratulate the hospitals decision to respect the concern of its neighbours.
Well done for finding a good solution.
- Paul, Kingston
It's simple, people. If people can't smoke inside, then they will go outside. If they can't smoke on-site, then they will go off-site. If it's a large site, that may be some distance away. And off-site means on someone else's street or outside someone else's premises.
- Sej, Reading, UK
I am only too aware of how difficult it is to give up smoking having given up a 20 a day habit myself - it was torture. However, if people want to smoke that's their own choice and hospitals that are already under extreme monetary difficulties, should not be paying out thousands on building a 'smokers corner'. I wasn't able to smoke at work for years before giving up and wouldn't have dreamt of lighting up anywhere near a hospital (and I had several extremely stressful visits to relatives who actually passed away during my smoking years). Get some perspective people.
- Geraldine, London
Amanda Sandford has a strange notion of what constitutes value for money. Stop smoking programmes have an odour of coercion in the present climate, have a limited success rate and should not consume health budgets in preference to the safety of patients and staff which will be enhanced by the construction of this shelter. Geoff Martin has a realistic attitude: you cannot force people to stop smoking, and this provides a sane solution to the extreme restrictions that are about to be imposed.
- Belinda Cunnison, Edinburgh UK
At last, a hospital with sense.
Smokers will not suddenly stop after a ban and as this hospital realizes they should be accommodated.
Amanda Sandford makes many points that show just how out of touch she is. Her comment about a poor use of money should be compared with the amount ASH & CRUK have spent on biased surveys or even her own salary. As a smoke-hater she fails to recognise that hospital visits can be stressful and athe opportunity to have a cigarette is calming for those under stress.
She actually acknowledges that it is more difficult for longerterm patients and staff but her assertion that no medical staff should smoke is unrealistic considering the stress they work under. We can be sure that most NHS staff are paid less and under more pressure from their work than she is in her privileged government sponsored 'charity' post.
It is no secret that anti-smoking groups have pushed for a total smoking ban and that such coercion has failed to cut smoking rates in Ireland and Scotland.
Interestingly enough their 'claimed 25% increase' in health damage from secondhand smoke amounts to a massive 2.5 people in 100,000 or protecting 1.15 in 1 million hospitality workers. This is the focus of their battle that has led to the isolation a large minority of the population, the destruction of communities, damaged business but most of all given smoking more publicity than the tobacco companies could ever dream of.
- Chrisb, Cornwall
