Teething problems at city's new eye hospital

STAFF AND PATIENTS OVERHEATING AS AIR-CON FAILS AND WINDOWS DON'T OPEN

- WILLIAM TELFORD

PLYMOUTH’S new £25 million eye hospital has suffered teething troubles, with complaints it is too hot inside.

The city’s new Royal Eye Infirmary (REI) building, on the International Business Park at Derriford, opened less than a year ago, but hospital bosses have admitted there have been problems with the air conditioning system.

The Herald was told that on days when temperatures soared this summer, staff and patients complained of the heat inside the building, which does not have any windows that can open. Portable air conditioner units had to be placed in all three waiting areas, after the air conditioning system packed up.

One person even went as far as to complain that the air conditioning problem was causing a health hazard, but chiefs at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, which runs the facility, stressed the air conditioning is now functioning again and said windows were designed not to open for safety reasons.