Health body ‘flouting law’ over smoking in hospital

A TRADE union official last night stood over his claim that the Health Services Executive (HSE), southern area, was flouting the law by allowing smoking in a hospital unit for which it is responsible.

SIPTU nursing branch secretary in Kerry, Donie Doody, called for a complete ban on smoking in the 50-bed psychiatric unit attached to Kerry General Hospital, Tralee, to protect the health of patients and staff.

“We believe psychiatric patients in the unit should not be treated differently to other patients in other wards in the hospital where smoking has been prohibited,” he said. But the HSE maintained the ban does not apply to the unit because of a law that predates the year-old smoking ban.

The anti-smoking law permits smoking in nursing homes; long-stay facilities; community hospitals; residential facilities for people with certain disabilities and psychiatric hospitals.

The Office of Tobacco Control has confirmed that psychiatric units attached to acute hospitals are not exempt from the ban.

In a statement, however, the HSE said that, under a statutory instrument of the Southern Health Board (District Mental Hospitals) Order, 2002, the health minister designated a number of acute psychiatric units as district mental hospitals.

“Under this statutory instrument, the acute psychiatric unit at Kerry General Hospital (KGH) was designated as a district mental hospital to serve the administrative county of Kerry, and as such is exempt from the prohibition of smoking,” the statement said.

Following discussions between management and staff in Tralee, the HSE said it had examined a number of proposals to provide a designated smoking area in grounds attached to the unit, but each was too expensive and not good value for money.

Ways of moving the smoking area outside the unit in a cost-effective manner are being looked at.

SIPTU national nursing official Oliver McDonagh said: “our members will not tolerate having their health put at risk in this fashion.”