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.
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