A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the impact of new anti-smoking guidelines in Scotland.
Introduced on April 1, they're designed to stop people smoking anywhere on hospitals grounds.
In particular, I noted the predicament of an elderly woman who is suffering from dementia and has effectively been prohibited from smoking because she can't leave the hospital grounds without supervision.
Newspapers were reporting that many patients were ignoring the 'no smoking' guidelines but that doesn't help this particular patient because she can't even leave the building on her own.
See Commonsense and decency sacrificed on the altar of public health.
So far I've taken calls from newspapers in Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Highlands who all report that scores of patients are ignoring the regulations, and this week the Dundee Courier conducted its own investigation and discovered the same thing (Hospitals’ cigarettes ban goes up in smoke).
However, instead of admitting the policy is a failure and heartless to the patients concerned, some of whom are on drips or largely immobile, campaigners are already calling for the regulations to be tightened. On no account must anyone be allowed to choose to smoke in the open air in the vicinity of a hospital.
Although the Courier's initial report was a bit one-sided, to put it mildly, a reporter later rang me and wrote a follow-up piece:
Group says enforcing smoke-free zones at hospitals would be a ‘complete waste of money’ (Courier).
I suspect this issue will run and run so if you know of any cases where people are suffering as a result of these regulations please get in touch.
Dick Puddlecote has also written about it here.