A week ago, when G. went for his appointment at the respiratory clinic, I was horrified to see a gaggle of smokers clustered round the entrance. I was furious that a terminal lung cancer patient should be forced to walk through a cloud of cigarette smoke to enter the clinic. I complained to a lady on the PALs desk who promised to speak to the clinic manager, and call me back. A week passed, no reply, so I rang ask what was happening. The reply has made me so angry. My call was passed to the newly appointed “smoking (prevention) nurse”. She agreed with me that it is not good for any one, let alone a patient whose respitory system is already compromised to have to inhale other people’s smoke, and to be fair, said she would speak to the estate manger and call me back. Her reply had me fuming! She had been told that when the hospital security officers tell people that smoking is only permitted in designated areas, they are subject to such abuse that they now refuse to deal with the problem. Words fail me.
