Posters going up at Northwick Park Hospital saying no smoking on grounds

Maternity poster to encourage people not to smoke outside Northwick Park Hospital (Image: Archant)

Large posters are being displayed outside the main entrance and maternity entrance of the hospital in Watford Road to coincide with No Smoking Day today (March 14).

Smoking is banned across all sites at London North West University Healthcare (LNWHUH) NHS Trust, including Ealing and Central Middlesex hospitals where posters will soon be introduced.

Nigel Myhill, director of estates and facilities, said: “It might sound obvious, but we have a real problem convincing people that it is not appropriate to have a cigarette at the entrances to our hospitals.”

He said the hospital grounds were being made into a cleaner and healthier place for visitors and the posters reflected that smoking on the site affects everyone.

Mother and child poster (Image: Archant)

He added: “Every year thousands of patients and visitors are forced to walk through a cloud of smoke to get to their appointment or visit their loved ones. We receive lots of complaints from patients and visitors as a result, who also tell us they aren’t able to sit outside the hospital because of other people’s smoke.

“We hope these posters will make a difference and encourage people to respect our patients and keep our sites smoke free.”

Security staff will patrol the hospital site and ask people who are smoking to move away from the entrances.

Clementine Djatmika, stop smoking specialist at the Brent Stop Smoking Service, said: “These posters are a great reminder that second hand smoke is not only unpleasant, but can exacerbate the ill health of people that are using hospital facilities to get better.

“The most common myth is that smokers ‘need’ cigarettes as a way of coping with stress, such as hospital related anxiety.

Remember that your local stop smoking service is on hand to dispel any misconceptions and talk through concerns you may have about quitting smoking.

“Should you decide that it is the right time for you to quit smoking, our service provides evidence based support and medication to help you stop smoking for free or at prescription price.”