Patients and staff have complained for years about inadequate air conditioning in some wards at the Launceston General Hospital. Now, with a series of 30 plus degree days forecast for the northern Tasmanian city, the hospital is again being urged to permanently upgrade its cooling systems.
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00:00When Jeff Wing's mum, Judy, was diagnosed with cancer, the family knew treatment would
00:07be tough, but they didn't expect her suffering would be made even worse by hot conditions
00:13inside the Launceston General Hospital.
00:16She was running at a really high temperature, dangerously high, and to have no air flow,
00:26no air conditioning, no fans, was pretty traumatic.
00:31Judy died in 2023.
00:33Jeff now wants to make sure the conditions she suffered in are changed.
00:38I was just totally dismayed and in disbelief that a hospital in this day and age would
00:46not have air conditioning.
00:48Debbie Martin was a nurse at the hospital for almost 17 years.
00:52She says she made complaint year after year about the inadequate cooling, but nothing
00:57was done.
00:58I think in 2017, we personally, in one evening shift, posted, and I can't remember if it
01:05was 14 or 17 letters, it was a particularly hot day, to the hospital complaint system
01:11and never received any feedback.
01:14The wards used to have wall fans, but Debbie says those were taken out during the COVID
01:18pandemic and never replaced.
01:21It is just heartbreaking to see people suffering.
01:25The hospital's chief executive says work is underway to upgrade the cooling systems.
01:30This is an old building and those wards are north-facing.
01:34We are aware of the discomfort that the heat is causing to both our staff and our patients
01:41and we're doing everything we can at the moment to try and alleviate those high temperatures.
01:48The hospital says portable air conditioning units will be brought in to help manage next
01:52week's high temperatures.
01:53Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are all expecting tops of 33 degrees.
01:59A solution in the short term for a long-term problem.