HOSPITAL bosses have performed an amazing U-turn on Great Western Hospital’s no smoking policy – all in the name of staff safety.

Site management company Carillion will resurrect two of the hospital’s dismantled smoking shelters by the middle of October in a bid to stop staff from sheltering under bus stops along the busy A4259.

The site off Marlborough Road has been non-smoking since the launch of GWH’s ‘Smoke Free’ status in January this year.

But with more staff trekking out to the outskirts of the site at all hours to get their nicotine fix, Carillion managers are concerned that it might not just be their health they are putting at risk.

Mark Bagnall, Carillion’s director of estates and facilities management, said: “Anecdotally we have heard that Wiltshire police have approached staff standing alongside the road and asked them to move further back onto the hospital site for safety reasons.

“We are, of course, constantly reviewing staff and patient safety and don’t want anyone being put at risk from passing vehicles”

Mr Bagnall said that because of the nature of the work the hospital does, staff are often standing off site to smoke at all hours of the night and day.

“For this reason we have decided to re-erect two smoking shelters toward the boundary area of the hospital site,” he said.

The shelters will be built within the gravel car park on the west side of the hospital. Both shelters will be under cover and protected by security cameras although Mr Bagnall said this is for the safety of smokers and not to monitor them.

“A risk assessment identified certain safety issues arising from staff and patients congregating at the entrance of the hospital,” he said.

“Especially with many staff working through the night there is no guarantee they would be safe standing at the side of the main road either from passing vehicles or other people.”

Mr Bagnall confessed that feedback from visitors also suggests that the sight of smokers at GWH’s entrance is damaging the hospital’s reputation.

He said: “Naturally we are concerned about how people outside of GWH perceive the hospital and with little else outside the main entrance other than a group of smokers, it doesn’t give the right impression.”

The hospital is still investigating the cost of resurrecting the shelters but they are expected to be ready for use in the next few weeks.

Although the shelters will be the only exception to the hospital’s Smoke Free status, hospital management is looking into possible adjustments to the roles of its two smoking officers who monitor smokers on site.

“There are a number of things to consider,” added Mr Bagnall. “In an ideal world we would not have to make these changes but staff and public safety comes first and I feel we have made the appropriate choice here.”