In a week which has seen a record number of NHS Trusts in financial trouble, "hit squads" being sent to Primary Care Trusts and residents being told they must wait for operations, it is disappointing the Government has not pressed ahead with comprehensive smoke-free legislation.
Smoking, including passive smoking, causes diseases of the respiratory, circulatory and digestive systems as well as cancer, and the cost to the NHS of treating these diseases can be measured in millions of pounds.
MPs had the opportunity to support the Health Bill and in so doing reduce the number of people the NHS has to treat for illnesses caused by the effects of smoking.
The Government chose to ignore the advice of all its advisers, including Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, who said "We are in the grip of a smoking epidemic."
The World Health Organisation has recently announced that it will no longer recruit people who smoke. Once more on a health issue, the residents of Scotland, Ireland and Wales, where such legislation is in force, will be in a more advantageous position than those of us who live in England.
Coun Susan Galloway,
Executive Member for Adult Social Services and Health,
Stirrup Close,
Ainsty Park,
York.
Updated: 10:30 Wednesday, December 07, 2005
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