I don't want my new baby to breathe your smoke posterDid you know that smoking isn’t allowed anywhere on the grounds of our hospitals? It sounds like common sense but we have real problems convincing people that our entrance areas aren’t the best of places to have a cigarette. We receive lots of complaints from patients and visitors who aren’t able to sit outside the hospital because of other people’s smoke.

Our public health team have been busy trying to make the Royal Free Hospital’s outside environment a cleaner and healthier place for patients and staff. They’ve created new posters to let people know that smoking on our grounds affects everyone.

Sarah Pearman from our public health team said, “We got the idea from a campaign run by the Royal Derby Hospital. They made some posters that really personalised the message, showing how much patients dislike breathing in other people’s smoke. Some people continue to smoke outside of the hospital, despite us being a smoke free site, and we hope these posters will make a difference.”

Along with the posters we are trialling an increased security presence. Security officers will regularly patrol the main entrances and politely remind people of our policy on smoking. We’ll also be introducing similar posters at Barnet Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital in the near future.

If you are planning to visit any of our hospitals please respect our patients and remember that our sites are smoke free.