Hospital smokers on the move

Smokers who are patients at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital will have to walk a bit further in future because their smoking shelters have been moved.

New laws which came into operation this summer insist that shelters have to be at least 15 metres away from buildings. Health bosses are now seeking planning permission for moving the shelters at the Princess Royal Hospital.

But Alan Millward, chairman of the Telford Hospital League of Friends, said it seemed a nonsense to spend public money subsidising smokers when Shropshire's two main hospitals were so short of cash.

"You see smokers shivering outside in the car park in their pyjamas, sometimes attached to a drip," he said.

"Why should our hospitals provide facilities which encourage people to keep on smoking? What sort of a message does this send out?"

Adrian Osborne, spokesman for the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, said smoking was a thorny issue throughout the National Health Service.

"If we don't offer smoking shelters people are more likely to smoke covertly," he said.

"This can cause greater problems such as the risk of fires, particularly at mental health establishments."

Mr Osborne said the needs of patients who were regular smokers had to be taken into account as did the safety and well-being of everyone using the hospital site.

"We are trying to balance out these difficult things and this seems to be a happy medium," he said.

The hospital trust is currently seeking retrospective planning permission from Telford & Wrekin Council to shift its smoking shelters further away from the buildings on the site. A decision will be made by planning officers using delegated powers.

"The new regulations require shelters to be at least 15 metres away from buildings.

"They have already been moved and we are applying for the relevant permission," Mr Osborne said.

By Peter Johnson