Tammy Milne is calling for a ban on smoking, starting with RHH

As she sat anxious and fearful in the crowded Royal Hobart Hospital emergency department a disability advocate and former councillor said she felt sicker because of the smoke wafting in from the street.

Tammy Milne at Royal Hobart Hospital. Picture: Linda Higginson

As she sat anxious and fearful in the crowded Royal Hobart Hospital emergency department Tammy Milne felt sicker because of the smoke wafting in when the doors opened.

The prominent disability advocate, and former Devonport councillor, had come to Hobart for throat surgery and while she heals she has a tracheotomy, or opening in her neck with a tube into her windpipe, to allow her to breathe.

The tube had dislodged and Ms Milne was waiting to see a doctor on Friday night but her concerns were compounded by the smoke.

“The ED smelled like an ashtray, which contributed to me wanting to vomit and cough,” she said.

“Every time the door to ED opened another waft of smoke would come in.

“Even the smell of smoke on people’s clothes was disgusting.

Tammy Milne at Royal Hobart Hospital. Picture: Linda Higginson

“Breathing through your throat means that I am super sensitive to things your nose and mouth usually filter out.

“A good whiff of anything nasty like cigarette smoke brings on coughing fits and if I cough too much I vomit.”

Ms Milne said she felt concerned for a young mum with a little boy who was unwell also being subjected to the smell of smoke.

“If people are genuinely unwell and need to come to hospital they could be given nicotine patches or something to get them through but also along with some counselling about not just their own health, but the effect their habit has on the help of others,” she said.

“It’s just so sad to see people in their dressing gowns having a smoke on the fake grass at the Liverpool St entrance.

Tammy Milne is calling for a ban on smoking outside of the Royal Hobart Hospital. Picture: Justin Tallis

“Their addiction is real but their health outcomes are going to be comprised by their continued smoking while in hospital.

“We all know that smoking has an effect on the whole body and healing.”

Like others Ms Milne wants action to stop people smoking near hospitals.

“There needs to be some hard conversations with Tasmanians about smoking and if that has to start at the hospital then isn’t that the perfect place?

“Hospitals are a place to make people well so let’s starting treating the whole body and a smoking addiction should be part of a person’s health care plan.”

The state government is facing renewed pressure to tackle smoking near hospitals and schools.

Prominent tobacco researcher and SmokeFree Tasmania convenor Dr Kathryn Barnsley has taken the government to task saying it “first promised to do something about smoke free areas around schools and hospitals in 2017”.

Dr Kathryn Barnsley, of Kingston.

In a letter from Premier and Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff to Independent Mersey MLC Mike Gaffney in August he said the Covid pandemic put work on a smoke free environment project “on hold”.

Dr Barnsley said using Covid as an excuse was “ridiculous”.

“The government has had many years to deal with this - and is using Covid as an excuse for doing nothing - when in fact reducing smoking during a respiratory transmitted airborne pandemic should be a priority,” she said.

“We’ve had three different ministers and still nothing.

“Smoking around entrances to schools and hospitals could be enforced by councils or government enforcement officers, and security staff.”

Dr Barnsley was angry that disability advocate Tammy Milne had been affected by smoke at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

“People with heart conditions or respiratory conditions like asthma are vulnerable. Tobacco smoke pollution can trigger a heart attack.”

Mr Gaffney said there was a community expectation that the government “plays a positive role in promoting healthy pursuits and pathways”.

Mr Rockliff said the government’s 2022-2026 Tasmanian Tobacco Action Plan, released in July, highlighted the government’s commitment to smoke free environments.

“We know that smoking has a significant impact on people’s health as well as the community more broadly and our State’s health system which is why reducing the rate of smoking continues to be a priority our government,” he said.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff. November 10, 2022.

Department of Health secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said the Royal Hobart Hospital was “a smoke-free zone, meaning that no one is permitted to smoke on the hospital grounds”.

“The hospital has clear signage in place advising that smoking is not permitted and hospital security staff successfully enforce this policy on-site,” she said.

Health Department secretary Katherine Morgan-Wicks speaks to the media in Hobart on Thursday, July 21, 2022.

“As a consequence of the smoke-free hospital environment, smokers often choose to smoke in areas surrounding hospital grounds. These areas fall under the jurisdiction of the City of Hobart, and the RHH continues to work with the council on the issue.”

City of Hobart connected city division director Jacqui Allen said the goal was “aimed around education rather than infringement and prosecution when it comes to butting out smoking in the CBD”.

“So far, this approach has proven to be a success, with a considerable drop off in smoking around the city,” she said.

“The City of Hobart will continue to work with Public Health and the community on this for a better outcome for all.”