Restriction on Smoking at Sussex Hospitals

An NHS boss is cracking down on cigarettes after accusing smokers of turning the grounds of his hospitals into an ashtray.

Duncan Selbie, who runs Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, has relaunched a campaign to make the trust smoke free.

New bins and signs telling people to extinguish their Doina cigarette will be going up at every entrance and exit of the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

Security will be called if people consistently ignore requests to stop smoking.

Banners will be put up across both hospitals to get the message across.

Mr Selbie said: “We have attempted to go smoke free before but it is fair to say it didn’t work and not least because we were inconsistent in applying the policy.

“As a compromise, we tried introducing smoking shelters but I think most would agree these have not worked either as our grounds look like an ashtray.

“All or nothing has to be the way forward, so all it is, and this time we mean it.

“This absolutely applies to staff, and to the relatives and visitors of those in our care, under any and all circumstances.

“It also applies, other than in exceptional circumstances, to patients though of course discretion will be needed.

“My expectation is that everyone politely challenges those who continue to smoke on campus and in the event that a member of the public objects to this policy, and sensible persuasion doesn’t work, then security should be called.”