Decision Report 201402304

Summary

Mr C had concerns that action was not being taken to prevent patients, visitors and staff from smoking at entrances to buildings at Monklands Hospital. He tried to report the matter via the contact number displayed on the 'no smoking' signs but no such number existed. When Mr C spoke to staff about the matter they seemed resigned to the fact that smoking outside the premises was an ongoing problem that happened all the time. He complained to the board but their response did not address all the issues he raised, and he brought the matter to us. We upheld his complaint, as we found that the board's response lacked detail and did not address a number of Mr C’s questions.

Recommendations

We recommended that the board:

• apologise to Mr C for the failings which have been identified as a result of our investigation; and
• review their original response and provide Mr C with a further response which addresses the specific concerns which were raised.