Hospital smokers abuse staff and public

An Evening News investigation found 23 people smoking near, or outside, the entrance of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in little over an hour.
All hospital sites are due to go smoke-free by 2015 under Scottish Government legislation but anti-smoking campaigners and patient groups said action was needed now.
It comes as Unison chiefs warn there was at least one report of verbal abuse per week from NHS Lothian staff who have approached visitors, patients and colleagues asking them not to smoke outwith designated areas.Pall Mall cigarettes.
One senior NHS insider called the “foul-mouthed” abuse of staff by smokers “a real problem”.
It should be a place where the sick get better. But instead, the outside of our hospitals often resemble an advertisement for everything that is wrong with Scottish health.
Patients standing in their pyjamas, some attached to drips, smoke cigarette after cigarette, oblivious as the carcinogenic smoke blows back into the wards.
Alongside them are NHS Lothian staff who, like the patients, seemingly cannot be bothered walking the short distance to the designated smoking shelter.
Above is a large red sign that is ignored by all: No Smoking In This Area.
Frustrated staff who call security demanding action are told there’s nothing that can be done. “They just shout and swear at us. We can’t 
intervene.”
But today – amid a groundswell of support for action – NHS Lothian has been urged to immediately end its informal acceptance of smoking outside hospitals by staff and patients. Parliament cigarettes.
Health chiefs are facing demands to get tough after the Evening News captured staff and patients brazenly flouting rules at the flagship Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
We photographed dozens of uniformed staff and patients ignoring the warning signs and smoking just yards from the hospital building.
Though building work currently taking place has led to the smoking hut positioned outside A&E being cordoned off, over a 70-minute period only six people out of 29 observed smoking outside the building made any effort to stand near the smoking area. Eight people, including five who could be easily identified as hospital workers, were seen smoking directly outside one of the entrances to A&E – underneath a sign which clearly states smoking is prohibited.
All but one of the people seen smoking in this area used plastic chairs which appeared to have been left there specifically for people to sit on during a cigarette break.
Indeed, smoking directly outside has become so common that staff from Consort – which manages the ERI site – have been seen using leaf blowers to move the large number of cigarette butts lying on the ground.
NHS smoking policy states that staff who smoke are only permitted to do so “off NHS Lothian premises”. The 2006 policy also goes on to state: “They should also be aware that smoking during business hours, or whenever in uniform or wearing an identity badge, compromises the public health message.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Lothian said no decision had been made regarding a penalty for staff who continue to flout the rules, but said discussions were ongoing.
All hospital sites are due to go completely smoke free by 2015 under Scottish Government legislation but anti-smoking campaigners and patient groups said action was needed now.
Sheila Duffy, chief executive of ASH Scotland, said: “Genuinely smoke-free hospitals have an important part to play in changing the culture of our society, helping the next 
generation to grow up free from tobacco.
“We understand that nicotine is highly addictive and it is not always easy for patients to quit abruptly when admitted to hospital. But stop-smoking support should be available – and we need to see leadership from NHS staff, who have no excuse for not following their own policies.”
Union reps and disgruntled staff have been receiving abuse from smokers who refuse to stick to the rules.
Unison’s Tom Waterson said: “We have had reports from NHS Lothian staff members who unfortunately have been verbally abused by members of the public who they have approached and asked not to smoke outwith designated areas.
“I would estimate that at least once a week we hear concerns from staff members who have asked people to move to a designated area and who have been hassled as a ­result.”
One senior NHS insider called the “foul-mouthed” abuse of staff by smokers “a real problem”.
He said: “As a non-smoker I find it particularly galling that I’ve got to walk by people exhaling a cloud of cancer-causing smoke to get to my work.
“It’s a real problem. I have noticed patients have been getting a lot more abusive and gravitating away from their smoking shelters at a number of hospitals.
“Like most things, time passes, and people get lazy or forget what they’re supposed to do. But that’s never an 
excuse for people to direct foul-mouthed vitriol at staff asking them to do the correct thing and stub their cigarettes out.”
He added: “At the end of the day, we’re the people who deal with the other end of it – the throat and lung cancers and the heart attacks caused by smoking. It’s funny how unabusive people then can be when they’re in a room with us and really need us.”
The Scotland Patient Association has called on staff to set a better example but said more support from higher up was necessary to help them kick the habit.
Dr Jean Turner, of the Scotland Patient Association, said: “For many years now there have been large signs at hospital entrances saying you are entering a no smoking area, but it’s been plain to see that’s simply not true.
“A lot of the time you practically have to hold your breath when you’re walking to the entrance. You pass patients with drips smoking in their pyjamas and you’ll also see uniformed staff members smoking outwith the designated smoking shelters.