SMOKING marshals have been introduced to patrol Russells Hall Hospital to ensure staff and visitors comply with the new smoke-free policy.

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Russells Hall Hospital and Guest and Corbett outpatient centres, went smoke-free in June 2019 to try to promote a healthier lifestyle.

But not everyone has been complying with the new policy so the Trust has now taken on marshals to carry out daily patrols of the Russells Hall Hospital site between 9am and 5pm - Monday to Friday.

They will be asking anyone seen smoking to move off-site, and they will also be providing information and support to staff who wish to stop smoking.

Diane Wake, chief executive of the Trust, said: “As a healthcare trust, we clearly wish to promote a healthy environment.

"Since launching our smoke-free policy on June 3, we have inevitably still been experiencing smoking on our sites whilst staff, patients and visitors adjust to this new change.

“We believe that implementing smoking marshals to help patrol our site is the next positive phase of enforcing our smoke-free policy, and we ask everyone to respect them during their duties.”