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John Astor House |
Patients’ lives at risk due to conditions
in nurses’ homes
NHS guidelines breached as broken boiler left staff without hot water
A DEFIANT group of nurses and doctors in a Fitzrovia housing block are fighting a compensation battle after a faulty boiler left them without hot water for more than three months.
More than 200 medical staff living in John Astor House in Foley Street will square up to landlords demanding payback for months of “hell”, when many were forced to wash their uniforms in cold water and traipse across London just to have a warm shower.
For more than three months over the summer many staff were unwittingly going to work in breach of NHS infection control guidelines – which state that all hospital staff have to wash their uniforms in water of at least 60 degrees centigrade – putting hundreds of patients at risk of infection.
This week, University College Hospital (UCLH), which leases the 350-room block to Pathmeads Housing Association, fixed the temporary boiler responsible for the chaos.
Tenants who pay between £400 and £600 a month for a bed in the block have had to manage without hot water for 10 hours every day since June.
The debacle came to a head in September when for five full days there was no hot water at all.
One doctor was so concerned about the risk to patients that she chose to move out.
One of the nurses leading the charge – who has asked to remain anonymous because of the pending compensation claim – said the situation posed a serious public health risk.
“The fact is a lot of staff were going to work in frontline healthcare jobs without having a wash,” she said. “It is a public health issue, and could have put patients in danger.
“I had to go to the gym or to my friends’ homes just to have a shower.
“We are angry and feel we are owed compensation but really that is only the half of it.
“It’s irresponsible and dangerous,” she added.
The crisis escalated to the point where tenants were shelling out to use laundry and shower facilities at another block more than half a mile away in Gower Street.
But with 300 other residents to compete with, many went home without a shower.
Tenants, including nurses, healthcare assistants and junior doctors, claim housing association Pathmeads refused to take responsibility when the problem was flagged up in January.
Only after presenting them with a petition and a formal letter of complaint did they take any action and hold a meeting in August.
A spokesman for UCLH confirmed they were considering a compensation package.
He said: “This was essential work to upgrade the temporary boiler system. Pathmeads meet the tenants of John Astor House on a regular basis and this issue was drawn to their attention and discussed.” |
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