Hospital uses spy cameras against abusive smokers (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Hospital uses spy cameras against abusive smokers
9:00am Saturday 25th April 2009 in
SPY cameras and recording devices will be used by the Great Western Hospital to clamp down on abusive smokers.
The move has been condemned by tobacco lovers who say the hospital’s anti-smoking policy is going too far.
It comes after figures obtained by the Adver showed that Great Western Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, has spent £30,000 on a number of projects designed to stub out smoking from its site.
The town’s hospital went smoke free four months ago and yesterday two smoking officers, who were hired to patrol the hospital site, were kitted out with fluorescent jackets, complete with shoulder cams and a recording devices.
The trust claims the cameras have been purchased not only to ensure the officers’ safety but also to provide more incentive for smokers to move along to the pavement outside the hospital.
However smokers say the cameras are an invasion of their privacy.
An employee who was found smoking a metre away from the main road, said: “I think that is a bit over the top to be honest. It’s not like we are breaking the law. I think everyone needs to calm down. Making us come down here standing on the pavements smoking is a bad image for the hospital.
“At least they could provide us with somewhere to sit down or shelter of some sort.”
A 35-year-old man, who was visiting a patient, said: “I am a taxpayer, this is not an illegal substance.
“I should be allowed to do it when I want and where I want as long as I am outside.”
However, the hospital insists the move is a positive step forward and is in the interest of patients, staff and visitors.
A spokeswoman for Great Western Hospitals NHS Trust said that the official policy for how the cameras would be used had not yet been devised.
She said: “The cameras will not be on all the time, they will be used as and when necessary.
“People or individuals will always be told beforehand that the camera is going to be switched on.
“The cameras are not there to deliberately catch people out but to help reduce the number of smokers onsite and anti-social behaviour.”
She added that other hospitals including Plymouth and Aintree have seen positive results after the introduction of cameras.
Sean Ovenden, one of the hospital smoking officers who has been smoking for 24 years himself, said the amount of abuse he had to face has fallen from 10 to 15 incidents a week to almost none.
He said he used to get a lot of abuse when people didn’t know the rules.
“Now things have calmed down and people are usually quite friendly and move along easily,” he said.
He said that at the beginning of the scheme he was catching between 60 and 120 people a day who were smoking on the site, but that figure has now fallen to 40 a week.
Oonagh Fitzgerald, Great Western Hospital’s NHS Trust’s human resources director, said: “The annual cost to the NHS in treating people for smoking related diseases is £2.7bn, we feel that our total spend of £18,000 to date, as part of the Smokefree Compliance Initiative is a net gain to the tax payer and the NHS in helping to reduce smoking.”
Comments(37)
BWB
says...
9:46am Sat 25 Apr 09
£30000 could have built a small smoking shelter.this cost would have been recouped by not having to pay for smoking officers. Yet another waste of tax payers money.
Robh
says...
9:50am Sat 25 Apr 09
A pittance compared with the income from tax on tobacco products.
Smoking is not illegal and the NHS belongs to the people so they can make as many rules as they want but it means nothing. If the can throw so much money at something that is purely an idealists policy why can't they provide decent patient care?
peatmoor pirate
says...
10:02am Sat 25 Apr 09
Now all we need is for him to be able to walk through the bottom end of town without having to walk past masses of smokers outside pubs! For the record, I think they should be inside them - the smoking ban is a nonsense.
For the record, I am far from anti-smoking (I think the pub ban is nonsense for example) but I don't want my son to have to be exposed to smoke when he is out and about and he doesnt have a choice himself.
Bobfm
says...
10:05am Sat 25 Apr 09
The Adver should investigate these issues. GWH are clearly going way to far in this Social Engineering.
Security word: Near-Free, now there's a laugh not in BLair/Browns Britain we're not.
Purlieu
says...
10:16am Sat 25 Apr 09
I can't believe people would want to smoke there it's a HOSPITAL for christs sake, does that mean nothing to the selfish polluters with the stinky fags.
Get some perspective, it's a place of healing and rest, please respect that.
Casual Observer
says...
11:11am Sat 25 Apr 09
Bobfm
says...
1:26pm Sat 25 Apr 09
You may not like it but they are the facts.
Bobfm
says...
1:29pm Sat 25 Apr 09
Jiver
says...
1:42pm Sat 25 Apr 09
I do not support smoking.........
Oooh! I think you do
jackdawson
says...
2:15pm Sat 25 Apr 09
Yazoo
says...
4:52pm Sat 25 Apr 09
Ian13
says...
7:49pm Sat 25 Apr 09
Jiver wrote:Bob's views are well publicised that he supports a freedom of choice. Not the dictatorship we have now.
Bobfm, South Marston says... I do not support smoking......... Oooh! I think you do
Ian13
says...
7:49pm Sat 25 Apr 09
Jiver wrote:Bob's views are well publicised that he supports a freedom of choice. Not the dictatorship we have now.
Bobfm, South Marston says... I do not support smoking......... Oooh! I think you do
Ian13
says...
7:57pm Sat 25 Apr 09
As already quoted, tobacco taxes, VAT and tobaco company taxes pay for the NHS several times over.
Also rather hypocritical of one of the "smoking officers" to lecture others when he has smoked for 24 years (conflict of interest?). Shouldn't that be "anti-smoking officers"?
chas
says...
11:08pm Sat 25 Apr 09
Tugger
says...
7:11am Sun 26 Apr 09
Anyone for lung cancer, coughing up blood and then they run to the nhs for help!!!
Jock Strap
says...
7:43am Sun 26 Apr 09
Jiver wrote:Hey Jive Bunny you still movin' & a groovin baby? Even I have to agree with you on this one -we all know how Uncle Bob still wishes the gaspers could still light up in his pub! I'm not so sure its to do with freedom of choice as Ian13 says (who is obviously a choker)! also Ian says -> This is an appaling waste of money and discrimination against 30% of the population.
Bobfm, South Marston says... I do not support smoking......... Oooh! I think you do
As already quoted, tobacco taxes, VAT and tobaco company taxes pay for the NHS several times over" - err don't think they do my friend - if they did we'd all be seen within days for appointments because they'd be able to employ any number of medical staff and all hospitals would have state of the art kit to treat everybody. Now then if we didn't have to spend vasts sums of money treating all those with smoking related ailments both primary and secondary then your analogy might be more believeable.
Jock Strap
says...
7:46am Sun 26 Apr 09
Ian13
says...
7:51am Sun 26 Apr 09
I supply the pub & restaurant industry so, yes, I do have a vestied interest.
Tobacco taxation does pay for the NHS several time, just this Government wastes it like all its resources!
Purlieu
says...
9:29am Sun 26 Apr 09
Start at pathetic and work down ...
Grad
says...
11:26am Sun 26 Apr 09
J3ryb
says...
12:10pm Sun 26 Apr 09
perhaps the anti smokeing brigade should be asking HM govenment where the diffrence is going, if not to fund the NHS, then where?
Bobfm
says...
9:13am Mon 27 Apr 09
Why would normally law abiding citizens wish to see an NHS trust breaking the law by trying to enforce a smoking ban in the open air.
Of course pubs have been adversely effected by smoking bans. 21 in Swindon and district have closed, directly as a result of lost revenue, because of the ban that's probably 100 jobs and homes lost. 4000 pubs have closed with the smoking ban being cited as the main cause, 2000 since the 2008 budget, which piled on even more pressure on the sector.
So yes I worry about my business and the staff I employ, but I also worry why it is that my fellow citizens fail to understand, that something they enjoy will be targeted at some point and should not seek to hand our freedoms over so lightly.
If you value Freedom I will be a guest speaker at the Cross Keys in Wootten Bassett tomorrow at 7pm. Listen to the truth not Government spin. Two pubs have already closed in Bassett.
Even Angrier Monkey
says...
11:13am Mon 27 Apr 09
I still smoke on the hosital grounds when i need to go there and have no plans to stop. I go well away from any buildings so as to not bother anyone. If anyone asks me to put it out i will politley refuse. what exactly is it they can do about it?
Mick12
says...
12:14pm Mon 27 Apr 09
Tugger wrote:Please read the story before you comment.
Smoking should be banned in hospitals full stop. Its a nasty nasty habit and the drug addicts who use this drug - legal or not - should be made to stand in the cold. Anyone for lung cancer, coughing up blood and then they run to the nhs for help!!!
nansview
says...
12:37pm Mon 27 Apr 09
Purlieu wrote:very harsh words when I think of how many devastated hands I have held outisde A&E while they had a few puffs. Not many people would have begrudged them that tiny comfort under the circumstances they tragically found theirselves in, never mind think they were arrogant or pathetic.
Basically, if a person just can't wait until they have left the hospital grounds, there's got to be word for the level of arrogance being displayed. Start at pathetic and work down ...
Worz
says...
1:19pm Mon 27 Apr 09
Bobfm wrote:What's on at the Cross Keys?
It really matters not to me whether anti smokers believe I am pro smoking or not. The issue has a far wider Freedom implication than just the minor irritant effect of passive smoking which clearly is substantially reduced to probably zero in the open air.
Why would normally law abiding citizens wish to see an NHS trust breaking the law by trying to enforce a smoking ban in the open air.
Of course pubs have been adversely effected by smoking bans. 21 in Swindon and district have closed, directly as a result of lost revenue, because of the ban that's probably 100 jobs and homes lost. 4000 pubs have closed with the smoking ban being cited as the main cause, 2000 since the 2008 budget, which piled on even more pressure on the sector.
So yes I worry about my business and the staff I employ, but I also worry why it is that my fellow citizens fail to understand, that something they enjoy will be targeted at some point and should not seek to hand our freedoms over so lightly.
If you value Freedom I will be a guest speaker at the Cross Keys in Wootten Bassett tomorrow at 7pm. Listen to the truth not Government spin. Two pubs have already closed in Bassett.
The pubs have not closed due to the loss of trade from smokers.
The Angel closed because it was a dump & full of druggies & yobs (the only pub in town with bouncers on the door)
The Beafort closed because the owner wanted to sell the land for houses (30 as it turned out).
The Boroughs closed because the new (to the trade) landlord simply weren't welcoming.
If trade is so bad, then why are there plans to reopen & expand the Angel?
Purlieu
says...
4:16pm Mon 27 Apr 09
nansview wrote:It says it all about smokers really, when they have tragically injured/ill relatives inside, that they have to leave the premises to satisfy their personal habit.
Purlieu wrote:very harsh words when I think of how many devastated hands I have held outisde A&E while they had a few puffs. Not many people would have begrudged them that tiny comfort under the circumstances they tragically found theirselves in, never mind think they were arrogant or pathetic.
Basically, if a person just can't wait until they have left the hospital grounds, there's got to be word for the level of arrogance being displayed. Start at pathetic and work down ...
How harsh is that.
TGLP
says...
4:35pm Mon 27 Apr 09
We need a charter of right. Does anyone think well get one.LOL
Tell the thugs to P**s of and blow smoke in their faces.
Commiting suicide is not illegal and if I want to exercise my rights, I WILL.
Personally I try to stay away from the filthy place of death.
dirtyden
says...
6:02pm Mon 27 Apr 09
Robh wrote:Why???? Ummmm...let me think.....
Oonagh Fitzgerald, Great Western Hospital’s NHS Trust’s human resources director, said: “The annual cost to the NHS in treating people for smoking related diseases is £2.7bn, we feel that our total spend of £18,000 to date, as part of the Smokefree Compliance Initiative is a net gain to the tax payer and the NHS in helping to reduce smoking.” A pittance compared with the income from tax on tobacco products. Smoking is not illegal and the NHS belongs to the people so they can make as many rules as they want but it means nothing. If the can throw so much money at something that is purely an idealists policy why can't they provide decent patient care?
Because of those that abuse their bodies by drinking & smoking to excess, then bleat 'Why me?' when diagnosed with terminal or serious illnesses and blame everyone but themselves. Not too difficult to work out is it Robh.....
Smoking is not illegal, nor is alcohol, but at least have the decency to recognise that there is a certain responsibility on the individual. Smoking is linked to cancer...not hard then to work out you stand a higher chance of getting cancer if you smoke...doh!!! The NHS belongs to the people so why does my money have to be spent on those who put themselves at risk, and then have the audacity to continue to the same outisde the very facility that is trying to help them. Decent patient care ??? Shall we have smoking wards maybe....put them next to the mortuary...saves the journey !!!
Even Angrier Monkey
says...
10:02am Tue 28 Apr 09
But as long as the entire NHS budget gets spent the way you like it then thats ok.
Until I started posting on here I never considered myself a particualy tollerant person.
Bobfm
says...
11:06am Tue 28 Apr 09
That aside someone smoking in the open air does not pose any health risk to others.
Kineasy
says...
11:21am Tue 28 Apr 09
Who next for a ban Drug Addicts, Drinkers, Motorists, Fishermen, The unmarried, NHS Managers,Vegetarians
, people who throw chewing gum? The country is grossly overcrowded but there must be a better way of all living together and permitting freedom of choice. The Nanny state will never be able to control every individual. All this envy, pettiness and hatred is unravelling our society.
nansview
says...
11:48am Tue 28 Apr 09
Purlieu wrote:Good God I hope you are not in the caring profession.
nansview wrote:It says it all about smokers really, when they have tragically injured/ill relatives inside, that they have to leave the premises to satisfy their personal habit. How harsh is that.Purlieu wrote: Basically, if a person just can't wait until they have left the hospital grounds, there's got to be word for the level of arrogance being displayed. Start at pathetic and work down ...very harsh words when I think of how many devastated hands I have held outisde A&E while they had a few puffs. Not many people would have begrudged them that tiny comfort under the circumstances they tragically found theirselves in, never mind think they were arrogant or pathetic.
Purlieu
says...
12:28pm Tue 28 Apr 09
nansview wrote:no business of yours, really, is it
Purlieu wrote:Good God I hope you are not in the caring profession.
nansview wrote:It says it all about smokers really, when they have tragically injured/ill relatives inside, that they have to leave the premises to satisfy their personal habit. How harsh is that.Purlieu wrote: Basically, if a person just can't wait until they have left the hospital grounds, there's got to be word for the level of arrogance being displayed. Start at pathetic and work down ...very harsh words when I think of how many devastated hands I have held outisde A&E while they had a few puffs. Not many people would have begrudged them that tiny comfort under the circumstances they tragically found theirselves in, never mind think they were arrogant or pathetic.
Danzigg
says...
9:38pm Wed 29 Apr 09
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