I has an appointment at Castle Hill Hospital in East Yorkshire on Tuesday afternoon. As I was putting my £2 into the parking meter, I noticed this sign above it.
Although I oppose banning smoking in the great outdoors - there's no reason for it other than to beat-up smokers for being smokers - I thought that at least the hospital has realised the difference between smoking and vaping. After reading the sign again, I realised that staff were not included.
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust have confirmed to me on the phone this afternoon that staff must leave the grounds in order to vape. So much for the Department of Health urging employers to allow staff to vape indoors. This Trust won't even permit staff to vape outside on the grounds. They must instead go out to the naughty step along with smokers, invariably next to a busy road, breathing in diesel fumes.
The Trust's management needs to rethink this policy ASAP. Not only does it discriminate against staff, it's just plain stupid.