Hospitals get £90,000 'smoking police'

Published on Thursday 13 December 2007 01:18

A HEALTH board is spending £90,000 on a team of "smoking police" to stop people lighting up in hospital grounds.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has recruited a squad of eight full-time staff who will approach anyone smoking on NHS premises and ask them to put out their cigarettes.

Clad in high-visibility green jackets, the so-called "enforcers" will also hand out information on quitting smoking.

The scheme - believed to be the first of its type in Scotland - is an expansion of a pilot project at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, which began in March.

Officials said the anti-smoking staff had been trained in conflict management and would always work in pairs when patrolling hospital grounds.