Posted By jackw.
Hi, I have just gone through the recent draft guidance on smoking policies for NHS, local authorities and care service providers issued by the scottish executive and would like views on the following please.

1. We currently allow nightshift workers in residential care homes for the elderly, (for obvious reasons I hope), who need to have a “fix” during the night to use the designated resident smoking room. We do not allow staff on other shifts to use these rooms for smoking and insist they leave the premises. My interpretation of the new guidance is that we can no longer allow this “ staff and visitors must not use residents smoking room”. The issue of visitors smoking in these rooms I will leave for the moment. So how do we limit the obvious risk to staff from dangers associated with going outside at 3a.m.?

2. Staff working in the community in clients homes, these will not be covered by the new act the guidance states staff“should not be asked to go into different clients homes who smoke, consecutively” In addition to the obvious problem re scheduling this (we have 2,700 home support staff servicing several thousand clients), consider the scenario the worker is scheduled to go to Jacks house a smoker and next to Anne’s home a non smoker. Great we are complying ah but alas Anne's brother, sister, son, daughter friend etc. a chain smoker is visiting. The client requires a service, which is critical. What do we advise the staff member to do, how do we ensure critical services are not disrupted?

How would we ever be able to manage such demands?

An easy one!!!

Posted By Ron Young
Here's a link to an article in todays Scotsman. Getting a bit silly now http://thescotsman.scots.../index.cfm?id=2445122005

Posted By Joe
The smoking issue is rapidly becoming a major headache for public service providers with the real problems/ discussions of complying with this legislation and continuing to deliver front line services not even having really begun.

I find the attitude of some professionals of advising people to cross their fingers, close their eyes and hope the enforcers aren't doing a nightshift just a bit scary.

Whether we agree or not, come the 26th March 2006, in Scotland this will be the law and therefore must be complied with, or have I missed something!!!!

Posted By Ian Waldram
If the comment from Joe is intended to refer to my previous response, I think it's slightly unfair. I wasn't suggesting 'no response', but merely that, in order to manage a real personal safety risk to nightshift care workers if they have to smoke outside a building, it might be sensible to quietly let them use a legitimate smoking room for residents. Of course they should also be offered support to stop smoking, but if that fails, it's not obvious to me that using such a room like that would increase the passive smoking risk to anyone - so what is the problem?

I also suggested that Scottish Executive should be alerted to this type of 'risk-balancing' issue, as I don't believe they considered it before deciding that smoking should be banned in almost all workplaces as well as 'public places', and their published guidance certainly doesn't provide any help. I also understand that SE decided this before consulting HSE about how such a ban might be enforced.

I fully support efforts to reduce real passive smoking, aid and support to help smokers stop, etc. but I don't believe it makes sense to devote huge resources to very small risks. My quick reading of Irish legislation is that most care premises are exempted and owners can allow smoking in designated areas by both residents, visitors and employees - very different from what SE have decided.