Doctors turning up the heat

Doctors are urging Hawke’s Bay Hospital in Hastings to take action to avoid another sweltering summer because of a lack of airconditioning.

Doctors told the Resident Doctors’ Association that temperatures reached 25 degrees Celsius inside the wards a couple of weekends ago.

The lack of airconditioning has been a contentious issue in the last couple of years. In previous years, staff and patients were given ice blocks and fans, but this did not make a significant difference.

Association general secretary Deborah Powell said ice blocks were ‘‘a bit of a BandAid on a haemorrhage’’.

‘‘These places are getting really hot, and an ice block just doesn’t quite cut the mustard. In 2019, we saw fans being deployed, a few portable airconditioning units, but it really didn’t do the deal, it still didn’t get on top of what was a very hot work environment. So by the end of that summer, we said enough’s enough and we certainly put Hawke’s Bay on notice – that we’re not going to go through another summer like this.’’

Last Monday, Powell contacted the DHB to ask what they were doing this year.

‘‘We’ve asked for a full catalogue of what they’ve done. We’ve also asked for what monitoring is in place so that we can ensure that the temperatures don’t start soaring again, and also what escalation plans they have . . . so we’re looking forward to their response to that.’’

The DHB said temperatures were monitored throughout the day through sensors in a range of rooms on each of the ward levels.

Chief operations officer Chris Ash said ‘‘a lot of work’’ had been done to address the heat in the wards.

‘‘[We] have completed installing window tinting on all the north-facing windows of the ward block to help reduce the temperature inside the building. Fans are also available for every patient area to help with airflow, and nurses now also have available new uniforms made of lightweight, breathable fabric. The ... age of the building makes installing airconditioning difficult and expensive.’’