This article is from page 17 of the 2012-03-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
PATIENTS and visitors to the Mid West Regional hospitals in Ennis and Limerick will have to leave the hospital campuses and walk to the roadside if they plan to light up.
From May 1, all hospitals in the midwest, including the maternity hospital, will become smoke-free, following in the footsteps of other HSE West hospitals.
Sister hospitals in Galway have been smoke-free for more than two weeks, although not everyone is a fan of the new regulations that must be imposed in all Irish hospitals by 2015.
Chairman of the HSE West, Pádraig Conneely (FG) asked if the HSE had gone a step too far by banning smoking on all hospital campuses.
“Is it not a far walk all the way down to the road?” he asked, referring to the tree-lined avenue of Merlin Park Hospital, Galway, where last week’s meeting of the HSE West took place.
The Galway councillor also raised unease at the sight of patients in their pyjamas and dressing gowns standing on the side of the main road, out- side the walls of the University College Hospital, Galway.
He asked who would be responsible if a passing car knocked one of these patients down.
The HSE West chairman also raised concerns about policing the new ban. “How are you going to stop people outside accident and emergency in an inebriated state who are smoking, or a person dealing with a tragedy who wants to go outside to smoke,” he said.
Clare representative to the HSE West Forum, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said he agreed with the policy, but raised concerns about hospitals like the Mid Western Regional Hospital Ennis, which has a psychiatric unit. “It is more than a dependency for people with psychiatric problems,’ he said.
He asked if the HSE now plans to extend the practice of allowing unhealthy behaviour on campus, by ceasing to sell sugary foods in its hospital shops, given the rise in typetwo diabetes.
Fellow Clare representative Cllr Tony Mulqueen (FG) asked about the size of the hospital campus and was told it was a 150-acre site.
“If there were 1,5000 acres, would you have the same rules? Where does it stop?” he asked.
Regional Director of Operations HSE West John Hennessy said it was “somewhat of an anomaly if we have banned cigarettes in pubs and public places and allow them on hospital grounds. I just can’t see us going back on an inevitable move.”
Tony Canavan, General Manager, Galway Primary Community and Continuing Care (PCCC), HSE West, added that “in a small number of cases, patients will be allowed to smoke in consultation with their doctor.”