Patients and visitors flout NHS rules and light up at Infirmary
Jump to full article: Evening Times (uk), 2009-10-13
Author: Exclusive by Stewart Paterson
Intro: SMOKERS are blatantly flouting a ban on smoking in hospital grounds more than two and a half years after it was introduced.
Outside Glasgow's biggest hospital, groups of staff and visitors can regularly be seen lighting up directly outside entrances.
In some cases groups stand in huddles beneath or beside huge notices warning of the ban.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) brought in the no smoking policy in March 2007, one year after the government smoking ban in enclosed public spaces became law.
Officials said they have tried various methods to enforce the ban but have not been able to stamp it out completely because it is not legally enforceable.
On visits to the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow this week and as far back as two months ago, the Evening Times witnessed dozens of smokers breaching the policy at various sites around the hospital.
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