HEALTH bosses were right to crack down on smoking directly outside the entrances to hospitals by visitors, staff and patients.

There is surely no need to be smoking on the doorstep of the very place where so many people end up because of the damage caused by smoking.

The reduction claimed by the health board is welcome news, but also shows the scale of the problem that so many people are blatantly ignoring the stark warnings and potential penalties in order to light up.

The health board has done much to help people give up smoking and with the Evening Times Clear the Air campaign, Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS and Lanarkshire NHS have been successful in increasing the number who successfully kick the habit.

The problem of smoking outside hospitals is entrenched and officials rightly state there is a long way to go.

Extending the programme into next year gives the opportunity to reduce the number even further, and allow people access to hospitals without braving clouds of harmful smoke.

The numbers of smokers in the grounds have been cut in half, which is good, but zero tolerance can only be a success when the number is indeed cut to zero.