PHE's prohibitionist agenda targets smoking and sugary drinks
Saturday, November 19, 2016 at 9:32 Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, has called for a blanket ban on smoking on hospital grounds.
Newspapers report that he told Health Service Journal (HSJ):
"I would like to see every hospital tobacco free.
"I don't just mean you can stand at the front door of the hospital, I mean tobacco-free."
ASH, naturally, support the idea. According to the Telegraph:
Chief executive Deborah Arnott said: "Hospitals exist to protect and improve health which can be undermined by allowing smoking on the premises."
Undermined? How will a ban on smoking on hospital grounds "improve health"?
If you're a smoker it will make very little difference. It may postpone your next cigarette but it won't stop you smoking.
You'll either find somewhere else to smoke - a neighbouring road, perhaps - or you'll ignore the 'no smoking' signs and smoke until someone tells you to stop.
If you're a non-smoker there's no risk to your health if anyone smokes outside so prohibiting smoking on hospital grounds will, again, have zero effect.
My response highlighted the lack of compassion:
Simon Clark, director of the smokers' group Forest, said blanket bans would be a “gross over-reaction”.
"Hospitals can be stressful places for patients, visitors and staff. Smoking is a comfort to many people. The NHS needs to recognise this and show a bit of compassion,” he said.
I'm also quoted by the Sun and Daily Mail (print edition).
My full reaction was:
"A blanket ban on smoking on hospital grounds would be a gross over-reaction.
"We understand why hospitals don't want people lighting up around entrances but there's no evidence that smoking in the open air is a risk to anyone else.
"A blanket ban will force people to smoke further away, which will discriminate against those who are physically infirm or in a wheelchair.
"Hospitals can be stressful places for patients, visitors and staff. Smoking is a comfort to many people. The NHS needs to recognise this and show some compassion."
See Hospitals should lead by example and ban tobacco on grounds, health chief says (Press Association).
But don't worry, folks. PHE is pro-vaping and for some people that's all that matters.
Reader Comments (5)
Wen I think through smoking restrictions in 10 year blocks starting with 1953 (It was 1963 when the restrictions really began) I notice that as smoking declined in the educated classes so the anti smoking machine grew. The worst thing now is that many of these professional lobbyists and decision makers are never smokers with zero empathy.
Compared to staff in Casualty being abused by drunks on any Saturday night, staff and equipment cutbacks, ward overcrowding, etc. etc.,this really is a non-issue. Surely anything that helps takes the tension out of stressful situations is to be, if not encouraged, at least condoned.
Perhaps someone could undertake a survey into the increased damage to patient, relative and staff mental health since such bans and their aggressive policing.
If we were to follow PHE's woolly examples of "research", I'm sure it could be made to demonstrate that one of the leading causes of stress-related maladies in the UK is PHE and their acolytes.
In fact, it's almost a shame that such bodies don't have performance-related pay and grant reviews - in which case by now they would be paying the public (rather than the other way round) for the privilege of spouting such drivel.
As the law stands they cannot force a smoker to stop smoking outside of the building, however once they change the law, it will belong as they are outwith the 15 metre boundary. If they attempt to bully anyone into it, simply call the police and inform them you are being assaulted
The PHE should have all funding for non-communicable diseases removed. Infectious disease control should be its only priority. The prohibitionist agenda it has now is no more that a contemporary version of the temperance movement.
Smokers are tax payers who are forced to fund hospitals. Taxpayers own hospitals. NHS health head must be sacked for not appreciating where salary comes from. Ingrate.