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Minister for Health Promotion, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, TD, today spoke at the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group’s Healthy Ireland Initiation Day, held in Farmleigh House.

The event marked the beginning of the process of developing a Healthy Ireland Implementation Plan for the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group.
The Minister said the event demonstrated the commitment of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group to ensure the protection, promotion and improvement of the health and wellbeing of everybody living in the region it serves.
In particular, the Minister spoke about the challenge for front-line staff in caring for their own health while they are caring for others.
The Minister said, “Making all our workplaces healthier is an important focus of our work under Healthy Ireland. It is very timely that the HSE is taking action in the area of workplace health, as it is so important that we lead by example when we are encouraging all sectors to implement healthy workplace policies.”
Minister Corcoran Kennedy congratulated the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group on commencing its Healthy Ireland planning process, and noted the range of positive, health promoting activities already in place in hospitals across the region.
The Minister said, “The significance of these initiatives, and others like them, should not be underestimated. When family and friends are included, improving staff health and wellbeing will have a significant impact on the communities you serve.”
The Minister emphasised, in particular, the importance of actions to address Ireland’s problem with alcohol misuse. She stated that alcohol is a Psychoactive Drug and is associated with a high risk of developing health problems such as liver cirrhosis, cancer and injuries; three people die every day due to alcohol abuse; and in 2012 €1.5 billion was spent on alcohol related hospital discharges. Minister Corcoran Kennedy said that the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill will help bring about a cultural shift in how we view and consume alcohol, and that as a consequence we will see an improvement in both physical and mental health wellbeing in the population.
ENDS

Note to Editors:

Dublin Midlands Hospital Group is made up of seven hospitals:
St James’s Hospital
Naas General Hospital
Tallaght Hospital
Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital
St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network
Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise, and
Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore.

The Group’s CEO is Dr Susan O’Reilly