News RSS Feed


Your news Video Student Adver Pictures National news Book Club

Got a story? EMAIL US, call us on 01793 501806 or text us at 80360, starting your message with 'SWINDON NEWS'

No smoking anywhere at Great Western Hospital

10:09am Thursday 17th July 2008

comment Comments (66)   Have your say »

By Emma Streatfield »

LIGHTING up outside the Great Western Hospital could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a new anti-smoking policy.

To enforce the message a smoking cessation enforcement officer will patrol the site and CCTV will be used.

The hospital takes its responsibilities seriously, we want to support people who want to give up

Oonagh Fitzgerald

The Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, is launching its Smokefree campaign in conjunction with Swindon PCT on August 1.

This limits smoking to just set areas a fixed distance away from the hospital site.

And the plan is to ban it completely in six months.

Oonagh Fitzgerald, the director of workforce and education for the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said: "The hospital takes its responsibilities as a healthcare provider seriously and research suggests that more than 70 per cent of smokers want to give up at any one time.

"We want to support people to do so."

Smoking still causes one in five of all deaths and is the single biggest preventable killer.

The new guidelines will be sent out in brochures, sent out internally and advertised on the side of buses and local radio.

At the hospital itself there will be a banner at the entrance and posters and brochures on display and smoking signage will be changed.

A hospital spokeswoman also confirmed that patients with upcoming appointments would receive letters alerting them to the hospital's "Smokefree" status.

In addition drop-in sessions will be provided for staff to give them information on support services to help them quit.

Following a public consultation in June 2007 smoking at the hospital was limited to three specially created smoking shelters.

Some hospital trusts have managed to go completely smoke-free, but a 2007 survey revealed that 57 per cent of those questioned in the Swindon area wanted a dedicated area to smoke.

The original plan had been to go completely smoke free, but part of the issue over smoking at the hospital is that the current regulations have been difficult to enforce.

A meeting to discuss the upcoming policy change had referred to poor compliance with current regulations, which allow people to smoke as long as they are five metres away from the main building.

For those seeking help the Swindon NHS Stop Smoking Service has a freephone number for patients or visitors to get support on 0800 389 2229.


Your Say YourSwindon

cfa, newcastle says...
10:20am Thu 17 Jul 08

I sometimes pick my partner up from our local hospital where she works. The NHS banned smoking from the whole hospital & the grounds, but I still see loads of people both patients & visitors standing outside smoking. There are signs at every entrance & all over the hospital but some people take no notice.

dc, swindon says...
10:39am Thu 17 Jul 08

good, IMO i think this sends the right message

Tarot, Swindon says...
10:42am Thu 17 Jul 08

Quote. The hospital takes its responsibilities seriously, we want to support people who want to give up
Oonagh Fitzgerald.

Fine support those that wish to give up and stop badgering those that don't.

Casual Observer, Swindon says...
10:50am Thu 17 Jul 08

This is excellent news and long overdue

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
10:54am Thu 17 Jul 08

I have no wish to get involved with the reasoning of this decision, but would like to know why it is with everything HMG/DoH involving smoking that despite a clear majority when asked (57%) wanted specific smoking areas, that they completely ignore the public's wishes. Consultation with HMG is a joke.

Casual Observer, Swindon says...
11:02am Thu 17 Jul 08

Robert Feal-Martinez wrote:
I have no wish to get involved with the reasoning of this decision, but would like to know why it is with everything HMG/DoH involving smoking that despite a clear majority when asked (57%) wanted specific smoking areas, that they completely ignore the public's wishes. Consultation with HMG is a joke.
Don't you think it would be morally wrong to spend public money on providing a special place for people to go and deliberately damage their health within the grounds of a hospital?

Robins69, swindon says...
11:09am Thu 17 Jul 08

Smokers should be charged for health care for tratment needed due to smoking same for drug users as well.

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
11:12am Thu 17 Jul 08

CO, is it not morally wrong to force the old and infirm out into the cold in the first place. As readers will know I have never smoked in my life, but the reality is smoking is a life style choice, like eating red meat (now apparently also a cause of cancer), would it be therefore morally wrong for the hospital to sell meat in the canteen. I do not condone smoking but it seems to me that to use your morality argument could apply to any life style choice. Or do you believe in the concept of the Nanny State.

matty1964, Lyneham says...
11:13am Thu 17 Jul 08

I for one will be very glad to see a smoking ban implemented at GWH.

During April/May of this year, my wife and I visited on a daily basis her Mother who was being treated in the Brunel Treatment Centre; in early May she died of Cancer having never smoked in her life.

Each time we visited, we had to run the gauntlet of people smoking outside the main door. Many of these people were dressed in bed clothes with medical equipment attached to their bodies.

For a visitor it does not look very nice seeing people hanging around the main entrance, in various stages of undress anyway. But to then have to inhale the spent smoke that these people are blowing out is extremely unpleasant.

I am not concerned about the moral issues of smoking. If people want to smoke then they should be allowed. But I do think that there is an appropriate time and a place and attending or visiting a hospital is not necessarily the right place.

Peeved, Swindon says...
11:13am Thu 17 Jul 08

Robins69 wrote:
Smokers should be charged for health care for tratment needed due to smoking same for drug users as well.
And drinkers. And mountain climbers. And skydivers. Bike riders. People who don't use the correct crossing points on busy roads. Over eaters...etc etc

madamspud169, Kempsford, Swindon says...
11:14am Thu 17 Jul 08

While I'm glad the GWH cares about helping patients to stop smoking I think helping patients to stay alive by giving them the correct medication is more of an issue and one that needs to be addressed urgently.
If the hospital had caring staff & edible food along with adequate healthcare provision I would be more inclined to listen to what they have to say

tibbie, swindon says...
11:14am Thu 17 Jul 08

I agree that it doesn't look that good smoking outside the hospital grounds, but some people will still continue to do so anyway

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
11:17am Thu 17 Jul 08

matty I agree it doesn't look very nice, but the hospital chose that location rather than one out of view, why do you think that was?. Perhaps to engender anger in anti smoking visitors?. Robins69, given that smokers contribute billion plus their normal taxation to the exchequer and their treatment is 1.7 billion, they do actually pay for their care 4 times over. Obesity costs the NHS 5 billion and is tax neutral, so who are the biggest drain on the NHS, fat people or smokers. Have you wondered around GWH and seen the number of obese staff.

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
11:19am Thu 17 Jul 08

That should be 10 billion.

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
11:20am Thu 17 Jul 08

Should read 10 billion

Casual Observer, Swindon says...
11:22am Thu 17 Jul 08

Robert Feal-Martinez wrote:
CO, is it not morally wrong to force the old and infirm out into the cold in the first place. As readers will know I have never smoked in my life, but the reality is smoking is a life style choice, like eating red meat (now apparently also a cause of cancer), would it be therefore morally wrong for the hospital to sell meat in the canteen. I do not condone smoking but it seems to me that to use your morality argument could apply to any life style choice. Or do you believe in the concept of the Nanny State.
No point arguing with you RFM - you bring everything back to an anti-government argument.

Smoking still causes one in five of all deaths and is the single biggest preventable killer.


Morality aside, this is something any government should act upon for the greater good.

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
11:28am Thu 17 Jul 08

CO, who introduced the smoking ban after promising to allow choice?, Who has lied about ventilation/filtrati
on as a solution, who has lied about the so called positive health benefits, excluding 40% of hospitals in their claims of up to 40% reduction in heart attack admissions (1 hospital) the average of the 60% they did quote being 3%. Has the other 40% of hospitals been included, the figure would been more hospital admissions not less. So it is Government. Sorry you don't like the truth but there you go.

Frontier(s), says...
11:28am Thu 17 Jul 08

My partner works within the GWH campus and on the odd occasion I have to go to the place to pick her up I wonder why we all spend millions every year simply to treat a majority of 'patients' that are either self-infliced obese, chronic smokers or both.

And that's not even counting the people who clearly view the hospital as a bit of a day out on the bus to find someone to talk to.

I swear that 75% of people at the hospital are there because of their own doing or when they're not even ill at all.

I've always thought the NHS was a very, very bad joke - I'm now starting to despise it.

It's high time people were charged £25 per visit. That'd at least sort out the lonely hypochondriacs and might inspire some people to eat less and walk more, rather than spend the first 40 years of their life desperately eating themselves into a mobility scooter.

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
11:32am Thu 17 Jul 08

I am far from silf like but when I see the size of some people who appear to find it difficult to even walk, I have to ask myself, how this can happen in a society that has plugged away at sensible eating for generations.

Mick out West, West Swindon says...
11:44am Thu 17 Jul 08

Can they legally ban you from smoking in the open air ?

Frontier(s), says...
11:47am Thu 17 Jul 08

Because, Robert, like everything else these days, the Welfare State will pick up the tab.

Eat junk food all day, every day and end up in a motorised wheelchair? No problem, here's some money, here's some free modifications to your house, here's a free wheelchair, here's your 'disability' allowance.

And if anyone DARES call you 'fatty' we'll take them to court for you, you poor thing.

Where has the notion of shame gone in this country? I have just been away on holiday and the majority of guests in the hotel were Russian. Not a single obese person amongst them, very few were even overweight.

When we left the hotel grounds we saw more Brits in the small town nearby - I'd say 70% of them were overweight, with at least half of those being chronically obese. Of course, they were wearing the least clothing of anyone and all thought they were God's gift. Not only were they not ashamed of being 20 stone, they were actively proud of it - and that was just the women.

Note to obese girls: having 36DD breasts isn't quite so attractive when your waist measures 44inches.

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
11:49am Thu 17 Jul 08

Mick, this is of course a very valid point, are the grounds of the hospital an enclosed or substantially enclosed public place. The answer to the first part of the criteria is clearly no. Can the LA enforcement people then enforce a no smoking ban. Clearly No. Who therefore is going to enforce the policy, which would not be covered by the Health Act Legislation, and any physical attempt to stop a smoker would then become a criminal offence in it's own right. What I think this type of policy relies on is the ability of the Hospital to 'spin'.

tibbie, swindon says...
11:57am Thu 17 Jul 08

It doesn't look good at the hospital, but somewhere, somehow people will continue to smoke

Ankh, Morpork says...
11:58am Thu 17 Jul 08

Not only were they not ashamed of being 20 stone, they were actively proud of it - and that was just the women.
Why should they be ashamed, if they feel good about themselves then fairplay to them. Of course your perfect in every way I'm sure.

LordBelacqua, Swindon says...
11:59am Thu 17 Jul 08

Two words: Chloe Marshall - size 16 Miss England contestant.

cfa, newcastle says...
11:59am Thu 17 Jul 08

Frontier(s),

The reason that Russians are so thin is because they chain smoke & only eat potatoes!

Only joking, I broadly agree with what your are saying

Healthy living should be taught from a young age & kids should do more PE, that's the only way to get he message across.

Careful what you say you will be accused of being "fatist"!

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
12:00pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Just found this from an LA policy document dealing with this self same issue involving Council Grounds, really confirms what I said, 'how good' will the spin be.
Enforcement
4.1 The key issue that came out of the consultation related to enforcement in open spaces. Obviously the impending legislation does not cover open spaces and our policy therefore goes beyond legislation. As in any policy enforcement should be proportionate and appropriate dependant on the breach. It is felt that the approach to enforcement of the proposed No Smoking Policy will be based on awareness, education and promotion of smoking cessation, in partnership with other organisations. Signage, leaflets and public awareness campaigns will all form part of the proportionate approach to implementation of the policy. At the very core of the policy is providing this information to enable smokers to appreciate the health and other benefits which accrue when they stop smoking.

Casual Observer, Swindon says...
12:13pm Thu 17 Jul 08

LordBelacqua wrote:
Two words: Chloe Marshall - size 16 Miss England contestant.
two words: Pork Pie - size medium, washed down with a pint of bitter. Never did anyone any harm (probably).

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
12:18pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Pork Pie gave me Jaundice, well at least at 15 I put it down to that. Haven't eaten one since.

Casual Observer, Swindon says...
12:23pm Thu 17 Jul 08

RFM This will be the latest pack of lies from the government then:

The number of teenagers who have tried smoking has dropped from 53% in 1982 to 33% in 2007, the figures showed.

Around 6% of pupils smoke at least once a week, which is lower than at any time since pupils' smoking was first measured.

The government said the figures showed health messages were getting through.
BBC News website, two minutes ago

You'd better start thinking of a reason why this can't possibly be true.

yeti, swindon says...
12:26pm Thu 17 Jul 08

if people are stupid enough to smoke.a hospital or its grounds should be the last place they should be allowed to puff their cancer sticks.

emmylou83, Stratton says...
12:30pm Thu 17 Jul 08

LordBelacqua wrote:
Two words: Chloe Marshall - size 16 Miss England contestant.
That's not big though not really, def not obese

LordBelacqua, Swindon says...
12:31pm Thu 17 Jul 08

emmylou83 wrote:
LordBelacqua wrote: Two words: Chloe Marshall - size 16 Miss England contestant.
That's not big though not really, def not obese
Oh shush you lol

Oxford, Toothill says...
12:36pm Thu 17 Jul 08

You may not agree with RFM but... Why do people start smoking in the first place? Answer, shops quite openly and legally sell Cigarettes, so in a way the government are to blame. I'm not saying smoking should be completely outlawed, but it should be made more difficult for people to buy cigarettes in the first place, ie, don't sell them in every supermarket, shop, newsagent, pub, etc. Perhaps if the sale of this commodity was only sold from a few small outlets that were only allowed to open for certain hours, ie corner shops, then you could help reduce the selling of these disgusting things and no doubt one or two local shops would benefit from this vice. I do however think that smoking should be discouraged in and around hospitals, but you will always get the one or two people that are determined to have a crafty fag, whether it be the doctor, nurse, manager, porter, or patient; so I say set up an area where these people can be out of the way but in a safe controlled area where they can indulge in this filthy habit. You could also make the area slightly uncomfortable in the way that in the summer it's hot, or in the winter it's cold, so they would think twice about smoking, but if there is no smoking area, people will creep off to the toilets, the boiler room or even the fuel and oxygen storage for their filthy fix endangering everbodies lives.

Oxford, Toothill says...
12:41pm Thu 17 Jul 08

I see a few comments about Miss England, what about Miss Swindon with her tache, sash and gash!

yeti, swindon says...
12:46pm Thu 17 Jul 08

why is is people on benefits make up a high proportion of smokers?
surely they must be getting too much of our money to fund their filthy habit?
i expect the knock on effect is a poor diet for themselves and their children. meaning even more burden for the nhs and the british tax payer.

Frontier(s), says...
12:48pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Ankh wrote:
Not only were they not ashamed of being 20 stone, they were actively proud of it - and that was just the women.
Why should they be ashamed, if they feel good about themselves then fairplay to them. Of course your perfect in every way I'm sure.
I'm not perfect, no, of course not.

But somebody who is 20 stone was once a normal weight. They CHOOSE to be like that because they choose to stuff themselves senseless and do no exercise.

Very few people looks 'good' at 20 stone and, in reality, very few people who weight 20 stone actually like the fact that they're so obese. They may pretend they're OK with it, that doesn't mean they are really.

You really don't think there's any shame at all in eating yourself into a mobility wheelchair by 40?

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
12:49pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Oxford, I do not dispute that advertising does tend to make people buy things but I am not convinced that shop displays have any real effect. If you're going to a shop to by cigarettes then it matters not that they are on display, although HMG are trying to suggest this. As to why people smoke, greater minds than mine have been searching for that answer. I certainly have never understood it, but most of my family either smoke or have done.

Adder, Swindon says...
12:49pm Thu 17 Jul 08

How much is this "Smoking Cessation Officer" going to cost and who is going to pay? I would rather see the funds being used to employ another nurse than a jumped up little Hitler.

Ankh, Morpork says...
1:06pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Frontier(s) wrote:
Ankh wrote:
Not only were they not ashamed of being 20 stone, they were actively proud of it - and that was just the women.
Why should they be ashamed, if they feel good about themselves then fairplay to them. Of course your perfect in every way I'm sure.
I'm not perfect, no, of course not. But somebody who is 20 stone was once a normal weight. They CHOOSE to be like that because they choose to stuff themselves senseless and do no exercise. Very few people looks 'good' at 20 stone and, in reality, very few people who weight 20 stone actually like the fact that they're so obese. They may pretend they're OK with it, that doesn't mean they are really. You really don't think there's any shame at all in eating yourself into a mobility wheelchair by 40?
Of course eating yourself into wheelchair is shameful but you give me impression that you think everyone who is over weight eat/drink too much and dont exercise. Surely your not that naive.

Oxford, Toothill says...
1:10pm Thu 17 Jul 08

RFM, If cigarettes are made very easy to purchase, then people will buy them more often. If you sell cigarettes in every shop and supermarket in the land, then most ordinary smokers will continue to buy them, but if you make them more difficult to buy forcing people to make a special journey, then only the most determined will go out their way. Of course smokers will stock-up, but the more casual smoker will wait until a more Convenient time and probably smoke considerably less.

Frontier(s), says...
1:12pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Being overweight is one thing, being a wobbling blob of 20-stone fat is entirely another.

It's all relative.

LordB mentioned the Miss England contestant who is size 16. Size 16 is actually the average size for women in the UK. Not quite the same as being obese.

I'm talking about people who eat themselves to obesity. OK, a small minority of them have medical conditions (no, 'big bones' doesn't count) that mean they'll be obese but that's a tiny minority.

Oxford, Toothill says...
1:20pm Thu 17 Jul 08

As someone once said, there wasn't many big boned prisoners in Auschwitz, but there weren't that many ordinary size 16 either.

emmylou83, Stratton says...
1:53pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Being overweight is one thing, being a wobbling blob of 20-stone fat is entirely another.


being 20stone is still overweight is it not???
I'm overweight and I know it but do I care? Nope!! I'm losing weight but i'm going it for me not anyone else and not for my health, nothing wrong with my health according to my GP and I smoked too for yrs.

Liz, swindon says...
1:56pm Thu 17 Jul 08

LordBelacqua wrote:
Two words: Chloe Marshall - size 16 Miss England contestant.
I think you will find that size 16 isn't deemed big these days

emmylou83, Stratton says...
1:59pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Oh and can I just add relating to the story smoking shouldn't be allowed right by the hospital but it's a "free country" give them designated areas and be done with it

Pav, Swindon says...
2:15pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Adder wrote:
How much is this "Smoking Cessation Officer" going to cost and who is going to pay? I would rather see the funds being used to employ another nurse than a jumped up little Hitler.
^ Wot he said ^

Smokers pay more than their fair share in tax, let them have a tab in a clearly designated smoking area.

Frontier(s), says...
2:38pm Thu 17 Jul 08

emmylou83 wrote:
Being overweight is one thing, being a wobbling blob of 20-stone fat is entirely another.
being 20stone is still overweight is it not??? I'm overweight and I know it but do I care? Nope!! I'm losing weight but i'm going it for me not anyone else and not for my health, nothing wrong with my health according to my GP and I smoked too for yrs.
emmylou, if you can't see the difference between a person who should be 12 stone weighing either 13 stone or 20 stone then you'd better see an optician.

emmylou83, Stratton says...
2:47pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Frontier(s) wrote:
emmylou83 wrote:
Being overweight is one thing, being a wobbling blob of 20-stone fat is entirely another.
being 20stone is still overweight is it not??? I'm overweight and I know it but do I care? Nope!! I'm losing weight but i'm going it for me not anyone else and not for my health, nothing wrong with my health according to my GP and I smoked too for yrs.
emmylou, if you can't see the difference between a person who should be 12 stone weighing either 13 stone or 20 stone then you'd better see an optician.
Ah Frontier(s) I've been waiting for you to have your say on my post. At what point did I say I couldn't see the difference??? I'm just saying regardless of whether someone is a stone overweight or 9stone overweight they are still overweight. I should be something ridiculous like 9stone, now if I was that thin I'd look ill so I'm glad I'm overweight.

mavis, Swindon says...
3:34pm Thu 17 Jul 08

They won't be able to police the whole site, so can't see the point of it to be honest

emmylou83, Stratton says...
3:48pm Thu 17 Jul 08

mavis wrote:
They won't be able to police the whole site, so can't see the point of it to be honest
Exactly even CCTV has blind spots

midge, Stratton says...
4:11pm Thu 17 Jul 08

As a staff memeber at the GWH, we were told that smoking cessation officers would be policing the site. Interstingly though, from the 1st of January 2009, not only will the site be completely non-smoking, but you will also not be allowed to smoke in your car.

Frontier(s), says...
4:35pm Thu 17 Jul 08

emmylou wrote:

I'm just saying regardless of whether someone is a stone overweight or 9stone overweight they are still overweight.


One would be overweight, the other would be obese.

There is a difference, that's one reason why the medical definition is different.

I should be something ridiculous like 9stone, now if I was that thin I'd look ill so I'm glad I'm overweight.


You must be quite tall emmylou, 9 stone is the target weight for a female of 5' 3".

To look 'ill' at 9 stone you'd need to be about 5' 10".

emmylou83, Stratton says...
4:47pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Obese is still overweight and technically their dr would tell them to lose weight even if the weight suited them LOL lets not fight over semantics.
Ok maybe its bit more than 9 coz i'm 5'5" but I know how low my weight can go before I start to look like a lollipop head.

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
5:00pm Thu 17 Jul 08

CO in you attempt yet again to attack the messenger you have missed the point of your own post 1982 to 2007. So you see smoking in the youth was going down prior to the ban consistently. Since the bans in Scotland and Ireland (no figures yet for England and Wales), the biggest rise in consumption and new starters is the under 21. It is also true to say that smoking levels prior to bans had reach all time lows, they are now increasing again as happens in all countries with total bans, but those with choices. Again a fact CO. As for enforcement these SCO will have absolutely no legal power PCT's can invoke policies but these cannot be legal enforceable, hospitals and their grounds are public buildings and places. There is no ban in open spaces. As for no smoking in your own car. One LA already tried that and were told by their own legal department they could not do it.

Ellen, Haydon Wick Swindon says...
5:02pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Research shows that miserable people die younger. Frontier, you will have to cheer up otherwise when you go it will be all your fault. Tongue in cheek, but if you follow to a logical conclusion then we must all take responsibility for our own health. Do we then charge everyone and do away with the NHS altogether?

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
5:38pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Ellen, seems to be true that happiness brings longevity, at least for one 100 year old man reported in the Mail, he has smoked since he was 9 and since he was in his teens had a glass of whisky every morning. So much for smoking killing you. Strangely my grandfather was 90 when he died, another chain smoker. Mum died at 80 and dad at 79 both smokers.

HoneyPie, The Shire says...
7:58pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Wow. If it was reported in the Mail, it must be true.
Not so strangely, my dad died far too young at 53 of a smoking-related disease.
They didn't report that in the Mail, though...

Frontier(s), says...
8:56pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Ellen wrote:

Do we then charge everyone and do away with the NHS altogether?


Er, that's what we already do - charge everyone, regardless of whether they use the NHS or not.

So, yes, please, let's charge those who use the service and not charge those who don't.

If only!

Ben, Swindon says...
11:18pm Thu 17 Jul 08

The point you have all missed is Pav's "in a clearly designated smoking area.". Normally, ignorant smokers just spark up wherever they please and to hell with anyone else. When my son was born at GHW we also had to run the gauntlet of smokers leaning on the 'no smoking' signs at the entrance to the hospital whilst having a fag. To be fair the GWH security teams were uselss and did nothing to stop them. When i complained they looked at each other and walked off. If there was a smoking zone away from the main entrance and people abided to it then everyone would be a winner. If only......

Ben, Swindon says...
11:18pm Thu 17 Jul 08

The point you have all missed is Pav's "in a clearly designated smoking area.". Normally, ignorant smokers just spark up wherever they please and to hell with anyone else. When my son was born at GHW we also had to run the gauntlet of smokers leaning on the 'no smoking' signs at the entrance to the hospital whilst having a fag. To be fair the GWH security teams were uselss and did nothing to stop them. When i complained they looked at each other and walked off. If there was a smoking zone away from the main entrance and people abided to it then everyone would be a winner. If only......

Ben, says...
11:23pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Fogot to add; R-FM - What a load of **** you talk.....no wonder no-one voted.

Neil, Swindon says...
1:38am Fri 18 Jul 08

Wow. lots of comments.
Emmylou83, I like your opinions.
Ben, you lost all credibility with that last comment of yours. Actually I find RFM to be quite informative, even though I only vote for the Conservatives.