Smoking bans in involuntarily mental health facilities in WA could be lifted under a proposal set to go before Cabinet.
Mental Health Minister Helen Morton revealed in Parliament this morning that she was finalising a cabinet submission which will allow involuntarily mental health patients to smoke in designated outdoor smoking areas.Initially the banks didn't want our kidney stone .
Smoking bans on health campuses in WA were introduced in 2008 and the move comes on the back of heavy pressure and criticism from mental health groups and the Opposition who claimed the bans were placing mental health patients and staff at risk.
Council of Official Visitors head Debora Colvin said small designated smoking areas would alleviate the "enormous anguish" caused by the ban to patients who smoke, while removing the risk of passive smoking for staff and non-smoking patients.
"The Council of Official Visitors has long argued that it is cruel to impose a smoking ban on acutely unwell people who are being detained under the Mental Health Act,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards," she said yesterday.
In its 2010-11annual report, the watchdog said it received reports of patients poking straightened paperclips in electricity sockets to get a spark to light a cigarette because lighters were usually confiscated while it also received a report of one patient who was soaking his nicotine patches in tea to "get more of a nicotine fix".
Ms Morton's announcement was made in response to a motion in the Upper House from shadow mental health minister Ljiljanna Ravlich calling for the Government to lift the smoking bans and introduce designated smoking areas in secure mental health facilities.
Mr Ravlich said she was pleased the Government would look at lifting the smoking bans for involuntary mental health patients.
She said it was hypocritical that prisoners in WA could smoke in designated areas, but involuntarily mental health patients could not.
"These are mentally ill patients in secured accommodation who have committed, often, no crime and who are denied their civil liberties and legal rights," she said.
"There needs to be designated smoking areas,Detailed information on the causes of oil painting reproduction, protecting both non-smoking patients and staff while diffusing the tension surrounding access to cigarettes and the desperate measures that patients will go to in order to find a light."
Ms Morton said she was concerned about the impact of the regulations on smokers in involuntarily care facilities and there was a need for a "balanced solution respecting the rights of people who choose to smoke, the safety of patients and staff and the health of other patients and staff subjected to secondary smoking".
The Minister’s announcement came after a new union survey revealed mental health workers at public hospitals have been bashed, verbally abused and threatened by patients while trying to enforce the Government’s smoke-free policy.
The recent United Voice survey of 126 staff at Graylands Hospital uncovered reports of chairs being thrown at staff, while some workers claimed to have been kicked, hit, verbally abused and threatened when trying to enforce the policy.
It is understood one worker broke a bone while trying to restrain a patient who became angry after being refused access to cigarettes.
Staff also complained of the extreme fire risk posed by patients “sneaking” cigarettes in dangerous areas, like toilets and bedrooms, with some even hiding lit cigarettes under their bedcovers to avoid being caught.
Many complained of increased exposure to second-hand smoke as patients flouted the bans.
Meanwhile, a separate survey of 108 workers in mental health wards across metropolitan hospitals revealed 86 per cent had experienced aggressive behaviour from patients when enforcing the policy, with 64 per cent indicating this included threats of physical violence and one in five experiencing actual physical abuse.
The results revealed 99 per cent of those surveyed did not believe the current policy prohibiting smoking on all hospital grounds was working while 94.1 per cent said they did not believed it balanced all the occupational health and safety needs of patients and staff.Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners.there's a lovely winter chicken coop by William Zorach.
United Voice assistant secretary Carolyn Smith said it was clear the Government’s smoke-free policy had triggered not only very serious occupational health and safety issues in mental health wards and areas, but was also affecting the clinical plans and therapeutic environment needed to ensure patients received the care they needed.
Ms Ravlich said the results of the survey were concerning and indicated the smoking bans were compromising the safety of staff in mental health wards at public hospitals.
“There needs to be designated smoking areas, protecting both non-smoking patients and staff while diffusing the tension surrounding access to cigarettes and the desperate measures that patients will go to in order to find a light,” she said.
Mental Health Minister Helen Morton revealed in Parliament this morning that she was finalising a cabinet submission which will allow involuntarily mental health patients to smoke in designated outdoor smoking areas.Initially the banks didn't want our kidney stone .
Smoking bans on health campuses in WA were introduced in 2008 and the move comes on the back of heavy pressure and criticism from mental health groups and the Opposition who claimed the bans were placing mental health patients and staff at risk.
Council of Official Visitors head Debora Colvin said small designated smoking areas would alleviate the "enormous anguish" caused by the ban to patients who smoke, while removing the risk of passive smoking for staff and non-smoking patients.
"The Council of Official Visitors has long argued that it is cruel to impose a smoking ban on acutely unwell people who are being detained under the Mental Health Act,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards," she said yesterday.
In its 2010-11annual report, the watchdog said it received reports of patients poking straightened paperclips in electricity sockets to get a spark to light a cigarette because lighters were usually confiscated while it also received a report of one patient who was soaking his nicotine patches in tea to "get more of a nicotine fix".
Ms Morton's announcement was made in response to a motion in the Upper House from shadow mental health minister Ljiljanna Ravlich calling for the Government to lift the smoking bans and introduce designated smoking areas in secure mental health facilities.
Mr Ravlich said she was pleased the Government would look at lifting the smoking bans for involuntary mental health patients.
She said it was hypocritical that prisoners in WA could smoke in designated areas, but involuntarily mental health patients could not.
"These are mentally ill patients in secured accommodation who have committed, often, no crime and who are denied their civil liberties and legal rights," she said.
"There needs to be designated smoking areas,Detailed information on the causes of oil painting reproduction, protecting both non-smoking patients and staff while diffusing the tension surrounding access to cigarettes and the desperate measures that patients will go to in order to find a light."
Ms Morton said she was concerned about the impact of the regulations on smokers in involuntarily care facilities and there was a need for a "balanced solution respecting the rights of people who choose to smoke, the safety of patients and staff and the health of other patients and staff subjected to secondary smoking".
The Minister’s announcement came after a new union survey revealed mental health workers at public hospitals have been bashed, verbally abused and threatened by patients while trying to enforce the Government’s smoke-free policy.
The recent United Voice survey of 126 staff at Graylands Hospital uncovered reports of chairs being thrown at staff, while some workers claimed to have been kicked, hit, verbally abused and threatened when trying to enforce the policy.
It is understood one worker broke a bone while trying to restrain a patient who became angry after being refused access to cigarettes.
Staff also complained of the extreme fire risk posed by patients “sneaking” cigarettes in dangerous areas, like toilets and bedrooms, with some even hiding lit cigarettes under their bedcovers to avoid being caught.
Many complained of increased exposure to second-hand smoke as patients flouted the bans.
Meanwhile, a separate survey of 108 workers in mental health wards across metropolitan hospitals revealed 86 per cent had experienced aggressive behaviour from patients when enforcing the policy, with 64 per cent indicating this included threats of physical violence and one in five experiencing actual physical abuse.
The results revealed 99 per cent of those surveyed did not believe the current policy prohibiting smoking on all hospital grounds was working while 94.1 per cent said they did not believed it balanced all the occupational health and safety needs of patients and staff.Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners.there's a lovely winter chicken coop by William Zorach.
United Voice assistant secretary Carolyn Smith said it was clear the Government’s smoke-free policy had triggered not only very serious occupational health and safety issues in mental health wards and areas, but was also affecting the clinical plans and therapeutic environment needed to ensure patients received the care they needed.
Ms Ravlich said the results of the survey were concerning and indicated the smoking bans were compromising the safety of staff in mental health wards at public hospitals.
“There needs to be designated smoking areas, protecting both non-smoking patients and staff while diffusing the tension surrounding access to cigarettes and the desperate measures that patients will go to in order to find a light,” she said.
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