Smokers 'abusing Mexborough Montagu hospital staff'

ABUSIVE smokers have prompted health chiefs to ask patients to voice their views on a hospital smoking ban.

ABUSIVE smokers have prompted health chiefs to ask patients to voice their views on a hospital's ban on fags.

Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust — which runs Mexborough Montagu Hospital — currently has a total ban on smoking with patients, staff and hospital visitors asked to leave the site altogether if they wish to smoke. 

But staff at Montagu Hospital have been met with verbal abuse when they have asked groups of smokers to move away from entrances, clinic rooms and office windows.

Littering of cigarette butts on streets outside the Adwick Road hospital is also a problem caused by the on-site ban.

Now, the health trust, which also runs Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Bassetlaw Hospital, is asking patients, visitors and residents for their views on whether or not people should be allowed to smoke on its site.

Deputy director of nursing Victoria Bagshaw said: “We’re looking for practical and effective solutions to the issue of smoking.

“We discourage smoking because it is very harmful to health, but at the same time we recognise that many smokers are addicted and will feel they need a cigarette while at the hospital, especially if someone they care about is extremely unwell. 

“We also don’t like to see patients from the wards leaving the site to stand on street corners in the cold and rain while they smoke. 

“It’s a subject that many people have strong views on and we want to hear both sides - in particular, whether or not people think the current policy is working and, if not, what we should do about it while recognising that we don't have the resources to operate smoking patrols on our sites.”

Anyone interested in getting involved in the debate can give their views online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/dbhsmoking, email [email protected] or write to Smoking Taskforce, Management Suite, Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Armthorpe Road, Doncaster, DN2 5LT. 

The closing date is September 14