A 'Health Boss' stands up for smokers

Health bosses propose to create 'smoking courtyards' at East Lancashire hospitals

NEW internal smoking areas could be created at East Lancashire’s hospitals to stop people smoking at entrance doors.

Read that again. I'm sure the smoking ban has not been repealed, so the legality of internal smoking areas in a hospital is questionable and not explained in the article. It could be a proposal that will go nowhere, or it could be an example of a council doing as they please regardless of the law. If it's the second option then it's one that will get no argument from me in this case.

What is important is that somebody with decision making power is speaking publicly in favour of catering to smokers. AsTESCO keep telling us, every little helps.

In response to this:

Speaking at the trust’s latest board meeting, Mark Brearley, East Lancashire Hospitals’ chief executive, said: “We’ve had a number of complaints from patients and visitors who feel that they have to walk through a cloud of smoke to come in here.

 Non-executive director Elizabeth Sedgely suggested that the trust could follow the lead of big businesses and ban smoking on its sites entirely.

a typical proposal for a complete ban, regardless of the wishes and needs of patients and visitors, we get this:

But Lynn Wissett, deputy chief executive at the trust, said: “Given the statistics I have just laid out we know we could enforce a total smoking ban but the likelihood of that happening is nil.
“Sometimes we have some very vulnerable, sick people who are addicted to smoking and we have to acknowledge that.
“We can’t have people saying if I can’t smoke I won’t come and get the treatment I need.
“We’ve got people coming here in their 80s, they have smoked all their life and they are coming here to die. Are we to say to them you can’t smoke in the last days of your life?
She said the proposed solution was to create an internal courtyard smoking area for patients, which carers and relatives could also access in certain circumstances, such as following a bereavement.

Gets my seal of approval, it's certainly a start. So is this something we can expect soon?

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust has launched a six-month study to decide how to solve the problem at Royal Blackburn and Burnley General hospitals after complaints from patients, visitors and staff.

Of course. A study. I hope they come to the right conclusions.

The article might give a ray of hope but the comments from the anti smokers are typically vile.