The Southern District Health Board has reinstated smoking rights at a ward in Wakari Hospital where staff were running an unauthorised smoke-free pilot scheme involving locked-in psychiatric patients.
Chief operating officer Vivian Blake confirmed yesterday the scheme, in Wakari's 9B ward, had been halted.
"I wasn't alerted about the pilot until recently. Had I known there was a pilot in place I would have informed the [hospital advisory] committee."
She said staff wanted smoking banned in mental health wards at the hospital.
Last week, board member Richard Thomson told the Otago Daily Times 9B's smoke-free pilot scheme had not been approved by the hospital advisory committee.
In April, the committee recommended smoke-free policy changes should proceed with caution, and with committee approval.
At present, smoking is prohibited on board premises and grounds, with an exemption for mental health patients.
Asked if group managers Elaine Chisnall, mental health and community services, and Pip Stewart, women's, children's and public health, had known about it, Mrs Blake said she did not know.
Because Mrs Blake attended hospital advisory meetings, she was aware of its decisions and recommendations.
In general staff did not attend committee meetings, and could not be expected to know what went on at them.
Asked if staff had made a mistake, she said they had not.
It was not possible for her to watch every staff member or initiative in an organisation as large as the DHB, she said.
"Staff have got relatively free rein to explore initiatives that they think will be appropriate within their services."
A 2008 letter from the Ministry of Health, which encourages DHBs to implement non-smoking policies in psychiatric wards, would be included in the agenda for next week's hospital advisory committee meeting.
