ALL 51 HOSPITALS will be smoke-free the end of the year, says the Health Service Executive (HSE). The ban on smoking is only left to be implemented in four hospitals in the country.
Today Bantry General Hospital (BGH), Mallow General Hospital (MGH), Kerry General Hospital (KGH) and St Luke’s Hospital Rathgar campus became tobacco-free campuses.
Prohibited
From today, smoking will not be permitted anywhere on the grounds of these healthcare facilities. Under the framework for the introduction of the HSE’s Tobacco Free Campus Policy smoking by employees, service users, visitors and any other parties will be prohibited within all HSE campuses by the end of the year.
The HSE states that “moving towards a tobacco free society will reduce the number of premature deaths from tobacco and result in healthier, longer and better quality lives for many Irish people”.
Hospitals such as the Mater, St Vincent’s and Cork University Hospitals are already smoke-free campuses.
While the HSE says that it is vital that there is a change of attitude towards smoking, the framework for implementation states that compassion will always guide care of the terminally ill patient who wishes to smoke.
Terminally ill
“However, terminally ill patients will generally have been accessing services prior to this stage. Therefore they will be aware of the policy and smoking may not be an issue. Each patient will be assessed on an individual and case by case basis and in certain circumstances an exemption may be given after a formal risk assessment has been completed,” states the HSE.
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