A SMOKING ban is being introduced in three hospitals in the region.
Patients, visitors and staff will not be allowed to smoke inside or in the grounds of the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, or Guisborough maternity unit, in east Cleveland, from Saturday, July 1.
Glenys Marriott, chairwoman of the South Tees NHS Trust, said: "Our prime concern is making people well and keeping them healthy, so it would be contradictory of us to let smoking continue."
Announcing the ban, Mrs Marriott said the aim was to protect and improve the health of people working, visiting or staying in the hospitals. The move would also remove the danger of second-hand smoke, which causes lung cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.
The trust is marking the countdown to the ban with a programme of events, which began on Tuesday with a visit to the James Cook University Hospital of Middlesbrough Football Club defender Tony McMahon.
Information stands about smoking and the ban have been set up at the Friarage and the James Cook hospitals.
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