Blackpool Nhs

Chief Executive Trust Headquarters Blackpool Victoria Hospital Whinney Heys Road Blackpool Lancashire FY3 8NR Telephone: 01253 306853 Fax: 01253 303033 [email protected]

8th June 2009 Ms xxxxxxxx Sent via email – [email protected] Thank you for e-mailing of the 22nd April, whereby you raised your concerns regarding the Trust’s ‘No Smoking’ policy. I can confirm that it is indeed correct that non-employees have the legal right to smoke in the open air and they are not committing an offence and indeed the smoke free regulations which came into force on the 1st July 2007 applies only to “enclosed public places and work places in England”. The smoke free legislation does not extend to hospital grounds and as matters currently stand the Government has no intention to extend the legislation, although recently the BMA has published proposals campaigning for smoking to be banned on all hospital grounds. Please be advised however, that the Trust is in no way acting “ultra-vires” for having in operation a voluntary code/policy banning smoking in its grounds. The Trust can quite legitimately ask people not to smoke on or outside its property and can take steps to bringing a criminal prosecution against those who smoke in the hospital grounds where the hospital is clearly displaying signs forbidding smoking in the grounds. This is because as the legal owner/occupier of the hospital site the Trust is allowed to impose conditions on the use of its premises. Furthermore the Trust premises are, in land law terms, private land. Members of the public like yourself do not have an absolute right to be on the Trust` s premises/land although they do have an open invitation to be there for legitimate purposes e.g. to attend for assessment or treatment, to visit relatives, to use facilities made available to the public. This invitation, (or “licence” as it is known in land law terms) to members of the public can be withdrawn at any stage. For example, the Trust can require people to leave if they do not obey the non-smoking ban. As I am sure you will have noted there are signs retained throughout the Trust sites advising visitors, patients alike that smoking is forbidding on the hospital grounds and elsewhere. Anyone smoking in the grounds can be reminded/told of the policy and asked to stop. A patient who refuses to stop smoking outside can be advised that they could be asked to leave the hospital; this would be carried out in accordance with the Trust’s policy on withholding/withdrawing treatment from difficult patients.

Chairman: Miss Beverly J Lester LL.B. Acting Chief Executive: Mr Aidan Kehoe B.Sc(Hons), ACA,DipHSM

Any visitor can also be asked to leave the premises if they do not stop smoking. If they do not leave after a reasonable period they become a trespasser and reasonable force could, in theory, be used to remove them. I hope the response I have provided clarifies your question regarding ‘ultra-vires’. Yours sincerely

Aidan Kehoe Acting Chief Executive