The Health Department has asked engineers to find a permanent fix for air conditioning problems at the Launceston General Hospital. The move follows multiple complaints from patients, staff, and unions about sweltering conditions in some wards that lack adequate cooling.
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00:00Staff at the Launceston General Hospital demanding action.
00:07Kylie Stubbs has been a nurse for 15 years.
00:14She's been complaining about the heat every summer.
00:17It's oppressive. I went up there before I come out here today
00:21and it's like working in these conditions without that breeze.
00:25It's like being hit with a wall of heat.
00:28Last week saw temperatures in the medical and stroke wards reach 29 degrees.
00:34Patients and staff were given ice blocks and cold towels to cool down.
00:39The nurses' union says it's a human rights violation.
00:43It's completely unacceptable.
00:45It's removing the freedoms of individuals
00:47and certainly the dignity of the most vulnerable in our community
00:50in their time of need.
00:52And if we cannot support patients in their final moments
00:55to be comfortably in a hospital,
00:57then I'm not sure we've got our priorities right as a community.
01:00The hospital had 10 chillers installed last winter,
01:03but it didn't fix the problem.
01:05The hot weather we've had over the last week or so in northern Tasmania
01:09has stressed the system and it isn't working as we expected.
01:13It also hired two portable air conditioning units,
01:16but the union says that's not enough.
01:19So it's back to the drawing board.
01:21The department asking engineers to find a new way
01:24to cool some of the older north-facing wards,
01:27including new vents, into patient rooms.
01:30That report is expected next week.
01:33We absolutely commit, and I'll commit on behalf of government,
01:36that as soon as we get the report we will start work.
01:39But we also want to see follow-through in terms of commitments
01:42around implementing recommendations and funding it appropriately
01:46and doing that as soon as possible.
01:49Some rooms will need to be closed while the upgrade works are underway,
01:53but the department is confident that will be done before summer next year.