WE’RE not smokers and can’t stand cigarettes but let us say this: whoever came up with the idea of smoking shelters at our hospitals deserves a pat on the back, not a barrage of abuse. At least there is someone with common sense.

The previous policy that said no smoking was allowed on any NHS site has patently failed and had unintended consequences. So, those who lived near the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington daily watched workers, contractors and patients from the hospital walk just off-site, congregate near their houses and smoke there.

This is the point: the ‘no smoking’ policy simply pushed it off NHS land – it was a ‘no smoking in our sight’ policy.

How does that help smokers quit their habit? It simply moved a problem rather than solving it – and created further issues for the hospital’s neighbours. Smokers need both advice and time to be able to reduce their intake and stop.

Having shelters on site should allow the hospital to control the problem, rather than hide from it. More than that, it should mean that smoking cessation advice can be given to those in the shelters, reducing their use over time.

But what’s this we read in your paper? Not everyone who is on the hospital sites will be able to use the shelters?

Ah, common sense, like a plume of smoke, has just blown out of the window.

DAVID RUNDLE AND RUTH WILKINSON Lib Dem councillors for Headington Ward