Great Western Hospital has successfully gone completely smoke-free.

The NHS Foundation trust in charge of the hospital received a Green ratting from Public Health England for its commitment to stop people smoking anywhere in and around the site.

A score of seven out of seven follows the trust offering stop smoking advice to patients, referring them to local services and enforcing a no smoking policy across all hospital buildings and grounds.

Cardiac rehabilitation co-ordinator and chair of the Smokefree Working Group Stephanie Taylor said:

“We are thrilled to receive such an outstanding grade for our work to become a smoke free site and want to thank everybody who has taken steps to quit smoking or support others to do so.

“It is good to know that our efforts have been successful and we will work hard to maintain this. The high score shows that we are in a good place to continue developing smoke free policies and practices further.

"We understand just how hard giving up smoking can be and do all we can to support patients, visitors and staff with their journey to quit. Some people still choose to smoke on site and we will be approaching smokers with smoking cessation cards to raise awareness of stop smoking support. We hope that new signage and an annunciator will also help to remind visitors that they are on a smoke free site. There is lots of support available to stop smoking so please ask for information next time you visit the hospital.”

With this new rating, the trust joins two thirds of the NHS trusts across the country who have also been graded green.