Hospital smokers say there is nowhere to go

Smokers who light up outside "smoke-free" hospitals say there is nowhere else to go.

On visits by the BBC, dozens of people were seen smoking outside Hull Royal Infirmary and Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby, despite a ban.

Julie, 66, said her husband was being treated for a serious illness at Hull Royal and having a cigarette helped her "deal with the stress".

A spokesperson for Humber Health Partnership (HHP), which runs the sites, said: "Our security teams patrolling the grounds will move smokers on, but they have other roles within the hospitals and are not on permanent duty outside our entrances to monitor smoking."

Julie said she had been smoking since the age of 14. When asked why she was lighting up on hospital grounds, she added: "Where else is there to go?"

She said she had recently been diagnosed with cancer and added: "The first thing I did was light a cigarette."

The BBC was asked to investigate as part of Your Voice, which invites readers to tell us about the issues and stories that matter to their communities.

HHP has declared its five hospital sites smoke-free, but said people continued to smoke outside "despite repeated warnings and multiple public appeals".

The group defended having a wall-mounted ashtray at the entrance to Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital.

The spokesperson said such bins were required "due to the lack of adherence to our ban on smoking in hospital grounds" and provided "a safe disposal method to prevent smokers discarding lit cigarettes in a standard litter bin, creating a fire risk".

It is illegal to smoke on hospital grounds in Scotland and Wales, but not in England.

The government is holding consultations on how to implement powers contained in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which became law in April.

It is proposing to expand illegal smoking restrictions in England to some outdoor public spaces, such as GP surgeries, health centres and hospitals.

However, in Hull, the NHS group said it had worked with the city council to introduce a public spaces protection order (PSPO) covering the hospital, "so the local authority can issue fixed penalty notices to anyone smoking on our premises".

Simon Clark, director of the smokers' advocacy group Forest, said people should be allowed to smoke outside hospitals.

"They're in the open air and there's not a shred of evidence that smoke in the open air is a risk to non-smokers," he said.

"We have to remember hospitals are very stressful places, not just for patients, but also for visitors and even members of staff.

"A lot of people smoke not just for pleasure, but also because it brings them comfort in difficult or stressful situations."

Clark said it would be "inhumane" to force people to go off site.

"If you want to ban smoking directly around the entrance, fair enough, but people still need to have somewhere where they can go," he added.

John Waldron, policy manager at Action on Smoking and Health, which campaigns for tobacco control, said people needed support to manage their nicotine addiction while in hospital.

He said: "It's more than just putting up a sign and getting rid of the cigarette bins and saying 'you can't smoke here, go away'. It's about engaging in a conversation about their smoking.

"We wouldn't allow people to stand outside hospitals, chugging vodka or doing drugs. So we shouldn't be allowing them to smoke, which we know impacts not only their health, but the health of people around them, staff and vulnerable patients."

At Hull Royal, one woman who asked not to be named said she smoked and vaped on the hospital grounds.

When asked why, she replied: "I've just given birth and I needed a cig. It's an addiction, a dirty habit."

Visitors to the hospitals had mixed opinions about the issue.

Sean Elstob, who was outside Hull Royal, said: "It's disgusting. It's not very pleasant to walk through.

"In terms of the hanging around the entrances, you have to kind of walk through a cloud of smoke and vaping."

Mandy Wood, a former smoker, said she people should not smoke for the sake of their health, but it was "their choice".

"They've nowhere else to go and if they're smokers, you can't just take the people's rights away," she said.

"I don't like to see it, I think they should have a designated area."

At the Grimsby hospital, Christian Wiltshire also suggested an area could be created for smokers away from the entrance.

"It does create an unpleasant sort of smell and all the bins are overflowing with the cigarette butts," he added. "It's not pleasant, but I understand they need it."

Humber Health Partnership said staff challenged smokers and asked them to move off hospital grounds, but this could be intimidating due to "the negative response they can receive".

A spokesperson said: "Patient care inside our hospitals is our priority and, as you would expect, a member of staff will not delay the care a patient requires to deal with someone ignoring our signs and breaking our rules by smoking in hospital grounds."

On cigarette butts in bins, the spokesperson said teams emptied the bins, but they could soon be filled again "when large numbers are smoking outside our entrances".

They added: "We renew our appeal to smokers, once again, to move off hospital grounds if they wish to smoke instead of causing an impact on our patients, visitors and staff."

Listen to highlights from Hull and East YorkshireorLincolnshireon BBC Sounds, watch thelatest episode of Look North.

Download the BBC News app from the App Storefor iPhone and iPad orGoogle Play for Android devices