VOLUNTARY CODE ON SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES

SMOKERS could be segregated from other customers in bars and
restaurants under a new agreement between ministers and the
hospitality industry.

The Government is believed to be close to agreeing a voluntary code of
conduct on smoking in public places.

Separate smoking sections would be fined with ventilation systems,
each costing UKP3,000. Licensees and restaurateurs are likely to agree
to the code to avoid an outright ban on smoking.

The code will insist children are protected from smoke. and that
restaurants and cafes have notices saying whether and where smoking is
allowed.

However, a voluntary basis will disappoint campaigners who want the
Government to take tougher action on smoking. Lord Janner of
Braunstone, a Labour peer, said. "Voluntary agreements are fine if
they are going to work, but I strongly suspect they won't."

Tessa Jowell, the public health minister, is preparing a white paper
on tobacco, which is due to be published before Christmas. A source
close to Frank Dobson, the Health Secretary, said last night it was
speculation that the white paper would include the code of conduct on
smoking.

However, the British Medical Association yesterday called on the
Government to show it was committed to banning tobacco advertising, as
clamed in its election manifesto. In a letter to Ms Jowell, it said it
was "deeply concerned" about the Government's failure to release a
white paper on tobacco control.

Dr Ian Bogle, the chairman of the BMA council, wrote: "Doctors hope
and expect that the white paper will demonstrate that the reports are
wrong and that the Government's commitment has not changed."

Separately, a study has revealed that fewer than half of the UK's
acute hospitals are able to provide life-saving treatment for some
potentially fatal smoking-related diseases.

Doctors at Castle Hill Hospital in Yorkshire carried out research into
the use of a recognised treatment for people with severe attacks of
bronchitis, emphysema and other forms of chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease {COPD).

They found a wide variation in the availability of the treatment -
non-invasive positive pressure ventilation - among 264 hospitals
across the UK. The treatment was available in 48 per cent of
hospitals, mostly in London and the south, even though COPD death
rates were lowest in these areas.

Where the treatment was available the survey suggested under-use.
Almost 70 per cent of hospitals offering the treatment used it to
treat fewer than 20 patients a year.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry