Patients have described terrible conditions inside Muswellbrook District Hospital when air conditioning failed during last weekend’s record-breaking temperatures.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed maximum temperatures ranged between 38 degrees Celsius and 43 degrees Celsius on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
On Level One in Ward Five John Madden and Barry Stair, both from Muswellbrook, were next to each other in beds Five and Six.
Mr Madden was admitted to the hospital before the heatwave began for a hernia operation. He was discharged on Monday.
Mr Stair was admitted on Thursday and was discharged Tuesday after he required intravenous antibiotic treatment for diabetic ulcers on his legs.
“My experience was it was flaming hot in there and I could not sleep and I had to get my daughter to bring me a fan from the house,” Mr Stair said.
“It was hot when I went into the hospital on Thursday and I suppose it was cool enough that you could stand it, but I reckon something went wrong on Friday afternoon,” Barry Stair said.
John Madden’s experience was similar.
“When the nurses started opening windows first thing in the morning and the air was cooler outside than it was inside there was definitely something wrong,” John Madden said.
“You couldn’t put any sheets or blankets on because it was so warm, but we just put up with it,” he said.
Both Mr Madden and Mr Stair said they saw a number of workers in high-visibility outfits wandering around, but did not speak to them directly.
Despite the shocking conditions the two patients praised the nursing staff who, they said, did everything they could to make them feel comfortable while they were patients at Muswellbrook Hospital.
“They sent out to buy fans; three pedestal ones, two or three that throw out mist and two or three that you can sit on your desk,” Mr Stair said.
“They kept filling my water jug with ice and, when they had time, they would stand by my fan at the bedside.”
John Madden heaped praise on the nurses in the difficult circumstances.
“The nurses and staff were trying to do all they could but they only had limited resources and I’m sure other people were complaining,” John Madden said.
“I would have nothing but praise for them, but I think management should be having a good hard look at this because I don’t know what age the air conditioning units are but it’s a bit like an old car, you can’t keep on repairing and repairing; at some point you’ve got to buy a new one,” he said.
The Muswellbrook Chronicle has forwarded an extensive list of questions to Hunter New England Health seeking information about the age of the air conditioning units, when they were last repaired, when the breakdown occurred and how many patients were in the hospital during the failure of the air-conditioning units, especially those in Aged Care and Maternity.
At time of going to press those questions had not been answered, but a statement from HNEH was provided.
It read:
In the extreme heat experienced over the weekend, Muswellbrook Hospital’s air conditioning stopped working. Staff acted immediately and the air conditioning was restored within a few hours.
In the meantime patients were provided with fans and bottled water while staff members were offered additional breaks.
The major redevelopment of Muswellbrook Hospital has already begun.
Stage 1 is a new $6.5 million Emergency Department. Work on that project is nearly complete and will open early next year, delivering extra beds and treatment spaces and greatly improved facilities for patients, staff and visitors. The ED will also include new air conditioning.
Hunter New England Health is already pressing ahead and seeking further funding for the overall redevelopment. We were pleased to learn in September that the important project was shortlisted for the latest round of Resources for Regions funding.
We look forward to the announcement of the successful projects at the end of the year.
• Lee Watts, independent candidate for the state seat of Upper Hunter, said she was dismayed to receive calls from patients enduring sub-standard conditions at Muswellbrook Hospital, with air conditioning not working during weather with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.
Lee Watts, who supports the call for a new hospital in Muswellbrook, said this latest issue was further evidence that band-aid solutions to prop up an ailing hospital were not good enough.
“To hear that people who are ill, who are elderly and some of whom are dying, were sweltering in our local hospital for days is just terrible,” Mrs Watts said.
"The current hospital is in an ongoing state of disarray ..."
- Lee Watts, Independent candidate, state seat of Upper Hunter
“Nursing staff were doing all they could, but they shouldn’t work in these conditions either,” she said.
“The current hospital building is in an ongoing state of disarray and the bureaucrats seem to keep putting band-aid solutions on it, when we all know it is time there was a proper, modern, purpose built hospital in Muswellbrook,” said Lee Watts.
