The grounds of every hospital and institution run by the Health Service Executive will be smoke-free by 2015. More than a third of hospitals, including some of the biggest in the State, will ban smoking on their grounds this year, according to the HSE’s national service plan published last week.
Already St Vincent’s Hospital, the Mater, Cork University Hospital and James Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, the first to implement the new guidelines, have become completely smoke-free anywhere on their campuses.
On Ash Wednesday Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan, Waterford Regional Hospital and Galway University Hospital will follow suit.
Source: Ronan McGreevy, Irish Times, 24/01/2012