The BMA said smoking on hospitals' grounds was 'dispiriting'

It said hospitals should be added to a list of areas affected if a ban was introduced on smoking in public places.

The assembly's smoking committee meets on Thursday to consider its views. AMs have already voted for a ban but lack the power to introduce one.

Last month, Cardiff North MP Julie Morgan proposed a new law giving AMs more power on the issue.

There are clear notices asking people not to smoke near the doors but everyone ignores them Dr Norman Vetter

BMA secretary in Wales Dr Richard Lewis said: "It is dispiriting to see nurses and porters smoking just outside the entrances to our hospitals.

"Hospitals are places where people go to be cured of illnesses - not to increase their chances of getting another one."

The view was endorsed by Dr Norman Vetter, a reader in the department of epidemiology of Cardiff University and a member of the BMA's Welsh council.

He said he had experienced groups of smokers near his office at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

He said: "There were piles of cigarette butts and bits of rubbish all around the entrance to Wales' only medical school.

The Welsh assembly does not have the power to bring its own ban

"It was a mess. Smoke was billowing in at the door and could clearly be smelt in my office, 50 yards down the corridor.

"There are clear notices asking people not to smoke near the doors but everyone ignores them.

"We know that parents of prospective medical students are often astounded by seeing the amount of smoking that goes on at every entrance.

"Many must be put off coming to Cardiff by the squalor that smokers seem to generate."

The BMA's call has come as Cardiff council has proposed extending its in-house smoking ban to include the city New Theatre, Cardiff Castle and St David's Hall.

Government hints

In January, Julie Morgan MP won the support of the British Medical Association, the British Heart Foundation and Action on Smoking and Health for her bill to give the Welsh assembly the power to bring in a ban in Wales.

In December, BMA Cymru urged doctors to write to their MPs and ask them to support a ban on smoking in public places.

The Westminster government has hinted it could allow the assembly to frame its own ban but was neutral about Mrs Morgan's bill.