Patient accuses Blackburn Hospital bosses of wasting money on heating

8:00am Sunday 21st October 2012 in News

A PATIENT has accused hospital bosses of wasting money on heating bills when wards are so warm, windows have to be kept open.

Richard Kennedy, 36, of Blackburn, spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning in Ward 22 of the Royal Blackburn Hospital with kidney problems.

He said: “The temperature was roasting. It was so hot from the minute I got there till when I left, that sweat was dripping off me and I had to sleep with no bedclothes on.

“They had all of the windows in the wards wide open, as well as the windows in the corridors.

“There were plenty of people complaining about it, even a 90-year-old man across from me, and it’s unusual to hear an elderly person complain of being too hot.

“I’m concerned that they’re wasting tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayer’s money on excess heating, at a time when they’re facing tough cutbacks.

“I’m sure that most people would like to know how their money is being spent.”

A Trust spokesperson said that environmental conditions meet statutory legislative standards and the NHS Energy-Encode Code of Practice.

The spokesman said: “Patient environments are finely controlled through computerised Building Energy Management Systems (computerised) which constantly regulate temperature levels to pre-set levels.

“We have 24 hour services available on the site to promptly attend to any helpdesk reported concerns regarding temperatures or any other non-clinical issues raised by patients, staff and visitors should any engineering faults arise.

“In the case of a complaint from received from a clinical area regarding temperature, Balfour Beatty will meet with Trust maintenance to look at conditional changes and altering the control parameters.

“We can confirm that nursing staff on the ward did contact the helpdesk following Mr Kennedy’s concerns and the temperature gauge was turned down by a further five degrees.”

Comments(12)

soap opera says...
9:35am Sun 21 Oct 12

did nobody know where the override button was.morrisons in blackburn is the same if they want to turn the heating down they need to contact head office

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speaks the facts says...
10:52am Sun 21 Oct 12

I feel sorry for the nurses that have to work long and busy shifts in the wards .

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lostforwords says...
12:21pm Sun 21 Oct 12

What a none story.

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This one goes up to 11 says...
1:24pm Sun 21 Oct 12

Well done Richard (36) for following through on your threat of "going to the Telegraph"
At least it keeps the stories about overgrown hedges out of the paper.
Stories like this makes you proud to be from round these parts.Surely there is something else to report isn't there ?

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RUinsane says...
9:25pm Sun 21 Oct 12

Sometimes, at night time, its a bit too dark especially when there is no moon. We need to contact head office.

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Far East Calling says...
1:53am Mon 22 Oct 12

Why Would the admin at Blackburn Hospital be bothered about bills, some one ells his paying them.

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Joseph O'M says...
9:11am Mon 22 Oct 12

As a tax payer I find this story to be completely relevant - having the heating level so high that it necessitates windows being opened is ridiculous. It's throwing money away when we don't have any to spare, adding unncessary tonnes (in a hospital of this size) of carbon emissions, and can't be good for patients. If the heating was turned down 5 degrees, that clearly suggests it was way too high. Far less relevant stories garner greater attention, and this story highlights the insanity of a situation whereby "in the case of a complaint from received from a clinical area regarding temperature, Balfour Beatty will meet with Trust maintenance to look at conditional changes and altering the control parameters" even thought it's clear nursing staff are capable of (and in this case did) being able to turn the temperature down.

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ghanto says...
9:16am Mon 22 Oct 12

There are idiots outhere

Hospitals are doing correct by turning heater on

Whoever feels hot should open windows but it does not mean that old and people who are feeling cold should be killed

Use your sense

If the heater is ON it can be controlled by opening a window but if somone is feeling cold then do you expect them to bring a hot water bottle

STUPISD dont accuse the hospital accuse youself

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Joseph O'M says...
9:51am Mon 22 Oct 12

ghanto wrote:
There are idiots outhere Hospitals are doing correct by turning heater on Whoever feels hot should open windows but it does not mean that old and people who are feeling cold should be killed Use your sense If the heater is ON it can be controlled by opening a window but if somone is feeling cold then do you expect them to bring a hot water bottle STUPISD dont accuse the hospital accuse youself
Do you work for an energy company? Becasue I'm sure they'd be proud of your response. I really don't think the hospital would allow it to be too cold that old people die. If we're using this argument, we may as well throw in that it's quite a well known fact that excessive heat kills old people too. The point here is that if it is that warm that windows need opening, then really, wisdom suggests that the heating is on too high and should be on a little less. No-one is suggesting that the heating should be set to a level where people are dying of hypothermia because it's too low. You say "If the heater is ON it can be controlled by opening a window"...or by turning the heating down.

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ghanto says...
8:53am Tue 23 Oct 12

HOSPITALS KEEP THE HEATING ON

THESE PATIENTS ARE 2 FACED IF NO HEATING THEY COMPLAIN IF HOTB THEY COMPLAIN SO DO WHAT YOU FEEL RIGHT

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julespent says...
10:34pm Thu 25 Oct 12

I used to work at RBH the wards were too hot, especially in the side wards where patients would just have a sheet covering them (no pyjama top on if they were male) and often the patients had high temperatures so we would have to open the windows and put a fan on. I often thought this was a waste but we were told at the time that the temperature was centrally controlled somewhere.
Joseph O'M the nursing staff reported it, they are not capable of turning it down as i have stated above.
As we all know energy bills are very expensive and it is taxpayers money that pays for it. I am sure if the headline showed the cost of the heating bills there would be a lot more comments on this page.

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Sajdin says...
3:35pm Fri 26 Oct 12

Ward 22? No such ward at Royal Blackburn Hospital, but there is at Burnley??

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