University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park Hospital will be smoke-free campuses from today.

Coinciding with National No-Smoking Day, from today smoking will no longer be permitted anywhere on the hospital grounds – including car parks, bus shelters, doorways or entrances or internal roads.

This policy applies to both hospitals in Galway, and will apply to all staff, patients, visitors, contractors, and anyone entering the hospital buildings or grounds.

As lung cancer causes the deaths of over 1600 people in Ireland every year, the HSE has set a target of introducing a smoke-free policy at all hospitals by 2015.