HC Deb 05 December 1960 vol 631 cc111-2W
41. Mr. Brockway

asked the Minister of Health what reply has been given to the petition sent to him and signed by medical practitioners urging that accommodation should be provided in hospitals for patients wishing to have treatment in wards free from tobacco smoke.

Mr. Powell

Following is the replyThank you for your letter of the 26th September enclosing a petition to the Minister signed by 131 doctors asking him to make 'adequate provision in all hospitals for patients wishing to have their treatment in wards free of tobacco smoke'. He would certainly wish to meet, so far as may be practicable, the wishes of patients who object to tobacco smoke. How far this can be done depends very largely on the design of the individual hospital; but in any case medical and nursing considerations must be the major factor in deciding how far patients can be separated and how they should be accommodated. In making rules about smoking in wards hospital authorities will be guided by advice which they receive from their medical staffs. The report of the Central Health Services Council on the Reception and Welfare of In-Patients in Hospitals, which was sent to all hospital authorities in 1953, contained the following: 'In some hospitals smoking is forbidden. We think patients should be permitted to smoke at any rate during some part of the day, except where it would harm themselves or their fellows.' Many hospitals follow this recommendation and restrict smoking in wards to certain hours of the day.

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