Crackdown on smoking at Sussex hospitals

An NHS boss is cracking down on cigarettes after accusing smokers of turning the grounds of his hospitals into an ashtray.

Duncan Selbie, who runsBrighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, has relaunched a campaign to make the trust smoke free.

New bins and signs telling people to extinguish their cigarette will be going up at every entrance and exit of theRoyal Sussex County Hospitalin Brighton and thePrincess Royal Hospitalin Haywards Heath.

Security will be called if people consistently ignore requests to stop smoking.

Banners will be put up across both hospitals to get the message across.

Mr Selbie said: “We have attempted to go smoke free before but it is fair to say it didn’t work and not least because we were inconsistent in applying the policy.

“As a compromise, we tried introducing smoking shelters but I think most would agree these have not worked either as our grounds look like an ashtray.

“All or nothing has to be the way forward, so all it is, and this time we mean it.

“This absolutely applies to staff, and to the relatives and visitors of those in our care, under any and all circumstances.

“It also applies, other than in exceptional circumstances, to patients though of course discretion will be needed.