Ten workers charged with smoking at hospital

Ten staff members at Mater Dei Hospital were charged with lighting their cigarettes in undesignated smoking areas at the hospital over the past year.

"The number might seem like a few but it's not, given that this is a hospital with over 30 designated smoking areas," the hospital environmental health inspector Aaron Simpson said.

During a tour of the hospital Mr Simpson pointed out hundreds of cigarette butts that lined regularly-cleaned water culverts and plant pots despite the existence of ashtrays in the smoking areas.

These smoking areas are located in internal yards visible from the hospital's corridors.

"I think it's not right to be walking through the hospital and see people smoking in almost every yard or open space. I would like to move the smoking areas out of the internal yards to the outer circle of the hospital," Mr Simpson said.

He added that the smoking areas were not designed as such. In fact, smokers often had to use fire doors - designed to be only used during emergencies - to access the yards. The doors could not be opened from the outside.

Cigarette remains also littered areas that displayed no-smoking signs such as the areas just outside the casualty and outpatients departments.

Smokers often stood underneath the shelters, just outside these areas, and ignored the signs.

"People think that just because it's outside, they can smoke. But this is not the case. A patient entering casualty or outpatients should not have to pass through smoke. Hospital is meant to be a place where health is promoted," he insisted.

After the migration from St Luke's Hospital to Mater Dei two years ago, a smoking committee identified 32 designated smoking areas at the new hospital.

The committee is now trying to reduce the areas to about five spread throughout the hospital by next year.

"Personally I would love to see a smoke-free hospital but I understand that we have to allow space for those smokers who spend long and stressful hours in hospital," Mr Simpson said.

When he started working at the hospital about a year ago, Mr Simpson first started trying to educate employees. Since then he has booked 10 workers, three of whom were fined €246 each, three were cleared and the remaining cases are pending.

He is convinced there are many more cases of illegal smoking in hospital but not sufficient enforcement. Cigarette butts found in undesignated areas are testimony to this.

Smoking in hospital is not new to Mater Dei. Three years ago two brothers admitted assaulting surgeon Alex Manché at St Luke's Hospital after he told one of them to stop smoking.