AIBU to complain to the hospital?

[DetectivePotato]

Ok I am one of those annoying ex smokers. But my hospital has big signs up, promoting their smoking shelters and going on about how it is a non smoking site, apart from designated areas.

Everytime I have been up there recently, I have had to walk through a fair few people stood right at the entrance lighting up. I don't want to walk through the fumes at the best of times, particularly when I am pregnant and have DS with my. One person stood there was a nurse.

It has been everytime I have been there so should I complain? Would you bother?

Fine. 'A woman who had a nurse-like uniform on then' FFS.

MrsChemist 'Some of those smokers will be dealing with bad news, perhaps they have lost a loved one, or they have been given a bad diagnosis. The lasttthing on their mind will be whether their smoke inconveniences other people.

I've spoken to hospital porters about it and they hate telling people to move for this very reason.'

I think this is the problem, that smokers are so used to being able to smoke anywhere that it is not common practise to go and find a smoking area. People receive bad news and then need the toilet, they go and find a toilet, they don't just go in the car park. (Hardhearted example but makes the point). If smokers were used to using designated smoking areas it would be natural to go to one, no matter what you were thinking/feeling. I agree that if nobody is going to enforce it, take the signs down.

In wouldn't make such a big deal out of it if it wasn't killing more people than smoking at the entrances is.

The Nurses are pushing towards getting the untrained staff out of "Nurse-like" uniforms but management isn't wanting to comply. They like the public believing that these wards are actually staffed with Nurses.

I don't think you'd be unreasonable to complain, but it is a sad reality of the NHS that your complaint is likely to be treated more seriously than one of clinical negligence (which IME they tend to try everything to wriggle their way out of rather than address properly).
If you think taking time and resources away from that is worth the effort, go for it.

LovestheChaos, you stated categorically that there was no way a nurse would be smoking at the entrance of a hospital and that simply isn't the case. It might not be common, it might not be likely, but it can and does happen.

I do sympathise with the rest of your argument although I think it's largely irrelevant to the OP, but actually you weren't there and you don't know whether it was a nurse or a HCA or something else. The fact is that no uniformed NHS staff, regardless of grade or education, should be smoking outside the hospital.

Thank you love. Don't know why the fixation with a uniform. Irrelevant to my post tbh.

"LovestheChaos, you stated categorically that there was no way a nurse would be smoking at the entrance of a hospital and that simply isn't the case"

I said that there was no way that an RGN who was the only nurse on her ward (which is often the case these days on our general medical ward) could be outside smoking. You cannot even leave the ward to pee under those circumstances.

But on the few better staffed wards that exist the RGNs probably do go out to smoke. If you have another RGN to cover your patients breaks become possible. Sadly, this often not the case because the only staff you are working with are care assistants. Therefore breaks are impossible for those of us who are often the only RGN on duty on our wards. The care assistants can always take breaks however.

Does that clear it up?

" Don't know why the fixation with a uniform"

It is relevant actually. People who think like you (assuming all staff are nurses) are the reasons our wards are getting under resourced and going to hell. It is the reasons that nurse to patient ratios that a laws in other first world countries don't exist here.This type of ignorance allows management to get away with a lot of negligance. They dangerously staff the wards and put untrained people in Nurses uniforms to save money because it is so easy to dupe such an ignorant, backward public.

It is a bigger social problem and much more dangerous and deadly than some twat smoking at the entrance is.

I am wondering why you choose to focus on where a few staff have breaks rather than the fact that so many people are dying needlessly on the wards.

"easy to dupe such an ignorant, backward public"

Excuse me, are you calling me ignorant and backward for not knowing that it may not have been a nurses uniform (and I say may as neither you or I know that).

Does it clear what up? I understood perfectly what you're talking about, you don't know whether the nurse was the only nurse on her ward. You don't know whether she works on a ward. You don't know whether it was at the beginning or end of a shift. You don't what hospital it was at. You don't know whether she was a student. You don't know whether she was bank. You don't know whether she was a nurse or not and you can say you think it unlikely (although without knowing anything about it you can't really know that either) but you cannot say that there's "no way" it was a nurse.

The hospital local to me states no smoking at all on any hospital grounds.

On the gynae ward there is a garden immediately out side. There are signs all over people still smoke.

When I was on the ward a woman came in with all her family and was loudly distressed as she thought she may be losing her baby. Both she and her mother were outside smoking constantly, the ward stank. People were being wheeled in after major surgery.

A nurse complained to the women. She blamed stress and giggled whenever the nurse wasn't present that "it was fag time, quick".

When the consultant came he threatend to discharge her immediately, he was so angry. It did not go down well.

People smoke, contientious people who are smokers obey the signs, or don't even notice them as they automatically go oout their way of people.

Arseholes who are smokers are arseholes and think the world revolves around them.

YANBU to complain, they may just ban smoking on grounds in total or impose fines if enough people do.

I personally think that smoking on hospital grounds should be banned.

It is a hospital after all.

I was always a careful smoker. I went on holiday with 3 friends when we were 18, none of them smoked and I would have dreamt of smoking in the apartment. I didn't even ask them if they minded but I automatically went outside. I never smoked in doorways or near children either. Its not that difficult to think of other people, even when you do want a fag.

wouldn't have dreamt of smoking in the apartment.

HCA's are "trained", they are just not qualified nurses.

Which is not relevant to this thread, no staff members should be smoking on NHS property, I'm surprised there's even a smoking shelter.

Smoking is banned in grounds of our local hospital - apart from shelters provided for in-patients. There's not much the hospital can do to enforce this though - it's not illegal. Fixed penalty notices can only be given by the Councils if people are littering. Staff however can be disciplined.

I agree with what MrsChemist said.

I was at my local hospital[no smoking allow3d within the grounds] for an out patients appt, i saw a woman i know just outside the door of one of the hosp buildings standing with her 2 brothers and their wives-they were all smoking........clearly against the rules

BUT

Their mum had just died on a ward upstairs.

Now who here that thinks its soo wrong to do would have gone and asked them to put out their cigarettes?

and is 2nd hand smoke more dangerous when its on hospital grounds? rather than 10 metres away outside the boundary-would you expect someone to put it out there too?

Amberleaf [smoker, NEVER smokes in public-smokes at home in my garden]

If they are just outside the hospital grounds, you aren't walking through it all as you are going in the door to the hospital. And you knew that woman. Should everyone who is smoking out the front be asked if they have just had some bad news so they can stay there? Most of which are actually patients anyway.

"Should everyone who is smoking out the front be asked if they have just had some bad news so they can stay there? "

Err no, its a hospital there is a v high chance that lots of people there will be going through a tough time/being bereaved.

I would suggest that exceptions could be made and as someone else has said it is not actually illegal!

re your first sentence Detectivepotato you are still walking through it! or is it only harmful if its just before you go through the hospital doors?

The fact that people huddle together directly outside the hospital doors to smoke makes it more harmful.If it was outside of the actual grounds it would be more dispersed and so not so much of a problem. It is unreasonable to smoke outside the hospital door and it does affect everyone, smokers just don't like to take resposibility for it.

The only time I am walking through the smoke is when I am going through the hospital doors, as thats where people are huddled. If they are elsewhere, smoking shelters, I can choose to avoid them by crossing the road. I cannot avoid them if I need to enter the hospital and they are stood by the doors.

If they had to move off the site, it wouldn't effect most people as most people need to drive or get the bus to the hospital anyway so they wouldn't be walking through it.

Yes people may have had bad news, that does not give them the excuse to stand outside the doors instead of crossing over the road to the shelter. There are loads of shelters and some of them are pretty close by. There is no excuse for their laziness.

I was once told that it was unlikely I would have children (all I had ever wanted in life), I didn't go outside and light up by the door (this was back when I was still smoking).

I like to think i have a bit of empathy for smokers outside hosp.My mum stopped smoking until she found out bro had cancer,then we found out chemo was killing him and without it he would die but have a bit longer to live.Your worlds crashed down,i just think people are in shock and tbh don't think when their in that state.I don't smoke btw.The one i don't like,is when they have nothing to worry about and smoke outside.

But why would you start to smoke when you found out someone had cancer?I'm not being heartless, I'm sorry I just can't understand. If you don't already smoke how would you know it would help (I can just about understand those who already smoke gaining a moments comfort from having one)

Stress tbh.think it reliefed her.Im no expert though

She did have other things goin on to.Which i can't say on here

Durham, daisy said her mum HAD previously smoked.