Fears have been raised for the safety of elderly patients at a Dundee hospital due to “months” of heating failures.
A whistleblower at the Royal Victoria Hospital on Jedburgh Road told The Courier there have been problems with the heating system since December.
It is understood wards six, seven and eight – which all have elderly patients – have been affected.
The source claims a new boiler has been bought but not installed.
‘These conditions are detrimental to their health’
They said: “There was an issue overnight on Tuesday where there was no heating or hot water.
“This has been an ongoing problem since December and to me, it’s no longer acceptable to have old people in this environment.
“These frail, elderly people are here for rehabilitation but these ongoing conditions are detrimental to their health.
“Staff can’t wash them without running hot water.
“At one point they were provided with an electrical portable sink to wash their hands.”
The whistleblower says the current situation at Royal Victoria Hospital is “cruel”.
NHS Tayside working to fix ‘known heating issue’ at Royal Victoria Hospital
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “There is a known heating issue which is affecting some of the wards at Royal Victoria Hospital intermittently.
“The boilers are now back in operation, however we would like to apologise to patients for any impact they have experienced.
“Our staff are fully aware of the issue and are able to access temporary, portable heating to bring on to the wards to keep patients comfortable.
“There are plans to replace the boiler system and this should progress in the coming weeks.
“If anyone has ongoing concerns, we would encourage them to speak to the nurse in charge of their ward.”
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