BMA Cymru calls for tougher rules on smoking and junk foods in hospitals

The British Medical Association (BMA) Cymru has called for more to be done to stop people smoking and promote healthy living in hospitals in Wales.

Currently health boards are unable to fully enforce smoking bans on their grounds as policies are not yet backed up by law. A clause in the draft legislation has prompted criticism because it contains no specific measures to tackle obesity and would give hospital managers the power to create designated smoking areas if they chose.

However, the BMA said a decision must be reached on whether hospitals were ‘places of health or not’ as smoking areas could still be allowed in future.

The calls follow on from a similar ask by the National Obesity Forum which has urged a blanket ban on the selling of junk food to patients, visitors and staff, saying hospitals should be ‘role models’ for healthy living.

The Welsh government has maintained that the Public Health Wales Bill is currently considering which legislation should be brought in has maintained that the Bill will make the Welsh NHS an ‘exemplar’ to follow.

If introduced, the second proposed bill would make it illegal to smoke on hospital grounds in Wales.

Dr Phil Banfield, chairman of BMA Cymru, commented: “There is a conception that hospitals are places of healing. Having an activity that is the leading cause of death and hospital admissions on the doorstep seems a contradiction."