Staff at a London hospital trust could be fired if they are caught smoking in uniform.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ has not only banned staff from smoking on its sites but has warned that they must not light up anywhere in public if their uniform or ID is showing.
The ban applies to the 13,000 employees at Guy’s at London Bridge, St Thomas’ Hospital and Evelina London Children’s Hospital at Waterloo, as well as health centres, GP surgeries, community buildings and patients’ homes.
Workers who flout the rules could face disciplinary action, and repeat offenders may be sacked.
Ann Macintyre, the trust’s director of workforce, said: “It’s the same as following any other policy in the trust, and if there is a disregard to that then it can lead to disciplinary action being taken. Yes, they can [be dismissed], but we would want to avoid that where possible — we pride ourselves on being a good employer.
“Part of that is making sure we communicate and consult with staff on these things. We have done very extensively and the vast majority of the workforce and our patient population support this.
The Department of Health recommends hospitals are smoke-free, and most trusts operate smoking bans for staff on-site and in uniform.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ is thought to be among the first to enforce the policy. Bart’s is among other trusts in the capital considering a similar move.
Ms Macintyre said: “[Smoking off-site] is more difficult to enforce, but if they are seen with their uniform on and their badges on it will be tackled in the same way as if they were smoking on-site. When you put these things in you get a bit of kick-back initially, but people do adapt. We recognise that people may still want to smoke, but they’ll also have to go off-site and cover up.”
The measures were introduced on January 1 and bosses plan to extend the on-site ban to visitors and patients.
