"Main Entrance to RVH"

Firstly, I wish to apologise to you for any upset caused by this situation.

I can advise that Belfast Health and Social Care Trust is committed to improving the health and well-being of the population we serve. In line with other healthcare providers across the UK and Ireland and following a Ministerial Directive, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust introduced a Smoke Free policy applying to all sites and grounds in March 2016 and updated in February 2021. Whilst acknowledging the difficulties and complexities that arise with the introduction of a Smoke Free policy such as this, we believe that the health benefits to all will be significant and that as a healthcare provider and employer, this is an appropriate course of action.

To help us increase compliance with our Smoke Free policy, we have two Stop Smoking Wardens located on the Royal Victoria Hospital and Belfast City Hospital sites ( who also cover the Mater and Musgrave Park hospital sites) they will raise awareness of the Smoke Free policy with smokers, along with offering them support to stop smoking.

We also have a Smoke Free Implementation Group, which is chaired by the Director of Nursing and has representation from across various departments/teams in the Trust. The Lead for the Stop Smoking Service Smoke Free delivers presentations to Senior Nursing Managers to highlight the importance of implementing the Smoke Free Policy.

We have developed a suite of resources for staff, patients and visitors to support and compliment the implementation of this influential public health policy.

I am pleased to hear that you noticed our endeavours to enforce our Smoke Free Trust, by placing posters and pull-up stands across Trust sites, particularly at entrances to our acute sites. We have raised the issue of healthcare staff taking smokers to the entrances and are dealing with this constructively with PCSS managers and Senior Nursing Staff through the ‘Smoke Free Implementation Group’

We acknowledge that achieving compliance with this policy is challenging, hence considerable effort has been invested in terms of planning, implementation and ongoing evaluation of this initiative. We have developed a suite of resources to support and compliment the implementation of this influential public health policy.

Overall, we feel that the introduction of a Smoke Free grounds policy has significantly reduced smoking on most Trust sites but we are aware that more ongoing work and encouragement with compliance is required to fully embed a culture where it is unacceptable to smoke on a healthcare site. A recent opinion survey open to all who engage with Belfast Trust, encouragingly showed that 80% of respondents were supportive of the Belfast Trust’s Smoke Free policy.

I would like to reassure you that compliance with our Smoke Free sites policy is high on our agenda and very much an ongoing effort.

I would hope that this has reassured you that we are doing all that we can to address this situation.