Danish hospital concedes defeat and reverses smoking ban

Herlev Hospital gives up trying to enforce ban

The Capital Region hospital Herlev Hospital is going against the grain by once again allowing smoking on its grounds.

The hospital has had a total ban in place over the past five years, but the ban hasn’t been respected by patients or their next of kin, so the ban has been lifted.

“We’ve given up trying to enforce the ban, so now we are trying to make room for everyone,” Klaus Lunding, the head of Herlev and Gentofte Hospitals, told TV2 News.

READ MORE: One sixth of Danish public employees banned from smoking – even when working at home

Bad signal
The hospital has established a number of smoking zones for the smokers to puff in, while the ban is still in place for staff.

The Danish cancer society is perplexed by the decision to once again allow smoking, calling it a “really bad signal to send”.

The new smoking permit will run for a year as a trial period.





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