Tracy Brabin MP: Why I want to change the law to stub out smoking on NHS hospital grounds
But the impact goes way beyond an unpleasant odour in the entrance. That’s is why I’m calling on the Government to support our NHS trusts to make hospitals smoke-free and to catch-up with legislation in Wales and Scotland.
This issue is the subject of a Ten Minute Rule Bill I am proposing today in Parliament which I’m hoping will gain enough support from other MPs to eventually become law.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIn doing so I will have to convince other MPs of the benefits, in the knowledge that some may view it as some sort of attempted nanny-state intervention. I know I’ve my work cut out, but I firmly believe it’s the right thing to do.
Our country has already taken great steps in raising public awareness about the risks and harm of smoking, and I doubt there are many children who are not aware that smoking is linked to cancer and other life-threatening conditions.
Various pieces of legislation have been passed limiting where people can smoke – workplaces and public buildings both have bans in place, and if there’s a roof, you can’t spark up.
Yet in hospitals, the very places we go to recover from our ills, people smoke freely right outside the front door. To me it undermines the role of the hospital as a health promoter.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIn my constituency of Batley and Spen, we’re served by the Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust which runs Dewsbury and Pinderfields Hospitals. It was the issues which staff and patients at the Trust face that provided the inspiration for this Bill.
And while I point out these examples, it’s important to note that smoking is already banned on the premises – but the legislation to enforce it sadly does not exist.
The issues it causes staff and patients alike vary in severity, but cumulatively can have a significant impact. The most obvious being the smell as you enter or leave hospital buildings, something you have no choice but to do in most circumstances. And with a number of smokers continually congregated outside entrances, it can cause congestion and block access for less mobile or disabled visitors.