Rank: Guest 
|
Posted By Craig Harris
Does anybody have a understanding of how the Health Bill (smoke free public places) will affect care homes. I understand designated rooms etc. but I'm interested in balancing the rights of service users (the right to smoke) against the rights of workers to decline accessing smoking areas?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Clarke Kent the 2nd
They can smoke in there personnel rooms from what i can understand, but even that was under some debate.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Charley Farley-Trelawney
Craig
Sat here writing a paper on this right now as a guide for the group that I work for. I believe that hotel bedrooms, and designated rooms in care homes, hospices, long stay mental health units prisons & oil-rigs will be exempt from the legislation, but designated rooms with doors that open onto smoke free parts of premises will have to have mechanical closing.
It is up to the management of individual buildings to decide if visitors will be allowed to access smoking rooms. The exemption exists for residents only and therefore should not be used by staff. There is no obligation for employers of exempt places to provide ‘smoking rooms’ if they do not wish to do so.
When all is said and done and you make arrangements within your care home, I would think that a quick call to the enforcement team may be of use to give a final inspection to your designated areas to be certain that you are compliant if you so wish.
All the best
CFT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By J Knight
Craig,
Agree with Charley; smoking rooms can be used by Service Users and their guests. They have to be more or less 'sterile', and shouldn't be used for recreational purposes apart from smoking, so no TVs, no bookshelves and so on. The idea is that people use them only for a fag and do their socialising elsewhere, though where that fits into normalisation and so on I have no idea,
John
PS I am assuming at the moment that bedrooms can be 'designated', but they would also need to have external ventilation and automatically closing smoke sealed doors.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By J Knight
Just to add, that jackw, who posts on here regularly, pointed out that the Scottish Regs don't actually forbid staff from using smoking rooms provided for residents. The guidance does, and I would guess that the regs were supposed to, but they don't,
John
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By J Knight
And finally, back to the original post. We already have problems with staff refusing to support smokers; we have even had regular smokers refuse. This is potentially a serious problem for us, as we are not willing to compel workers to work in smokey areas. Other employers are, and this has been discussed on this forum (do a search), but we aren't. Some of our Service Users have advanced neurological diseases, and literally need the cigarettes holding for them, hence the problem if all our staff refuse. We use smoking aids where we can, but in a handful of cases we can't; and that would be part of my general advice. Use smoking aids, and also get smoking cessation people in. About half the population at any one time wants to stop smoking, the same is true for people in care homes. Ignore the staff who say 'what about their rights' and 'its all they've got'. If your staff are healthcare professionals they should be promoting health, not smokers' rights (this is what one of our head nurses said to me, at any rate), and if smoking is 'all they've got' then find them something else to do. I'm not advocating forcing people to give up, but they should have access to the same services that people in the wider community do,
John
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Craig Harris
Thank you for feedback - good point CTF re: enforcement teams and inspection. I feel my only route is to commence along that identified by John Knight. Whilst i recognise there will be resistance, i cannot see any other long term solution. I particulaly like the point about promoting health. Thanks
|
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.