"Smoking outside the buildings"

Dear composersq98

Thank you for your message.

I have raised to Trust Leadership and can share the following response form our Assistant Director of Patient Experience with you.

---

At the outset may I say how sorry I am to learn of your experience and we sincerely apologise for the distress caused by such inconsiderate behaviour.

The Trust employs Smoking Wardens / Compliance Officers on Hospital sites who routinely patrol the premises to challenge smoking, to inform members of the public and staff of our Smoke Free policy and to direct smokers off site. Following your comments, I have provided details of these infringements to our wardens.

The Trust works in collaboration with the Council’s Tobacco Control Officers to ensure that the Trust has taken all steps to comply with The Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006. The extension of the Trust Smoke Free Policy to encompass grounds and entrances is currently not a legislative requirement and is therefore not enforceable by punitive action except where there has been a breach in The Smoking Order.

Since the introduction of the Smoke Free Policy the Trust has observed a dramatic decrease in the number of smokers on our sites: However, unless and until there is a change in the legislation to encompass Health and Social Care premises we solely rely on the understanding of the Public to comply with our Policy. For this reason a very small minority of smokers continue to remain defiant with regards to Trust Policy.

The Trust sincerely apologises for your experience, we will continue to promote our Policy and also lobby decision makers to change the legislation to ensure our users do not encounter second hand smoke when visiting healthcare facilities.

---

Best wishes

Conor