IN HIS letter last week regarding smoking at Weston Hospital, Geoff Malham misses the point.
IN HIS letter last week regarding smoking at Weston Hospital, Geoff Malham misses the point. It is nothing to do with the legality or otherwise of smoking but the sheer inappropriateness of permitting the practice anywhere in a health facility.
Recent research has shown that smoking costs the NHS more that �5 billion a year. 18 per cent of all deaths in the UK can be attributed to smoking, with associated illness and disability putting a huge burden on the service.
Witnessing a patient (as I have) in a dressing gown, crouched on the ground by the entrance, smoking whilst connected through the nose to an oxygen bottle is bizarre, not to say grotesque, under the circumstances.
Weston hospital is failing in its duty of care to patients and visitors by turning a blind eye to the flouting of its own rules.
IAN PITCH
Church Road
Winscombe
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