Air-con for B2, C class in TTSH

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Air-con for B2, C class in TTSHRenovated wards get 'spot cooling' to keep temperatures at 28 deg C

Retired cabby Mr Ng (left) is comfortable in a renovated B2 room in TTSH. Other improvements include non-slipflooring, a toilet and shower within each five-bed unit, cushioned floors and decentralised nursing stations. -- STPHOTO: KEVIN LIM

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BY SALMA KHALIK, SENIOR HEALTH CORRESPONDENT

Air-conditioning has found its way to subsidised wards in at least one public hospital.

Six out of the 24 B2 and C class wards at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) have had "spotcooling" installed to keep temperatures at a steady 28 deg C, day and night.

This is part of the hospital's upgrading to make wards safer and more comfortable,especially for older patients.

The renovated B2 wards also have non-slip flooring, a toilet and shower within each five-bed unit instead of large communal facilities for the entire ward, cushioned floors to softenfalls, and decentralised nursing stations.

PUBLISHED ON MAR 11, 2013 2:23 PM

Air-con for B2, C class in TTSH

http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/case-you-missed-it/story/air-con-b2-c-class-ttsh-20130311[29/08/2014 4:27:39 p.m.]

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Ms Wong Mui Peng, TTSH's deputy director of nursing, said having one nurse station perroom of five or six beds - instead of all them working from one central location - hasresulted in nurses walking 3.6km less each shift. The 1.5 hours each nurse saves arebetter spent caring for patients.

The renovated C class has six beds to a room and is also air-conditioned, althoughpatients still share communal toilets and showers.

Public hospitals typically have B2 and C class wards which lack some of the comforts ofB1 and A class wards. Patients in B2 and C class wards usually have to walk tocommunal toilets, do without air-conditioning, and share their room with a dozen or morepeople.

This is to discourage people from choosing the highly subsidised B2 and C class wards ifthey can afford better. Subsidy is as high as 80 per cent in C class, compared to 20 percent in B1 and none in A class.

But following the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in 2003 whichspread within hospitals, having fewer people sharing facilities made medical sense.

So the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) in Yishun, which opened in 2010, has adjoiningtoilet and shower facilities in rooms with only five patients in subsidised wards, althoughthere is no air-conditioning.

A spokesman for KTPH said the hospital was built to take advantage of natural breezewith full height windows, but admitted that temperatures can go as high as 33 deg C in hotmonths.

Other public hospitals also said they were unlikely to introduce air-conditioning insubsidised wards.

The National University Hospital air-conditions the main corridors, but not the subsidisedwards. Its spokesman said a roof garden above its main building helps to keep down thetemperature in the wards below.

At TTSH, temperatures in subsidised wards could go as high as 35 deg C on hot days,despite a fan for each patient, said director of nursing Yong Keng Kwang.

"Excessive perspiration could lead to more complications such as unwanted infections andirritations for patients," he added.

TTSH's new system dispenses cool air which isthen circulated through the ward cubicles by acentral fan.

The hospital has been getting positive feedbackfrom its patients, and intends to install similar air-conditioning units in all its subsidised wards. Twowards are under renovation, and the rest will beupgraded in stages.

Nurse manager Adelaida Sioson believes patientsare "easier to look after" in the cooler wards.Fewer have bed sores and rashes caused by

Air-con for B2, C class in TTSH

http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/case-you-missed-it/story/air-con-b2-c-class-ttsh-20130311[29/08/2014 4:27:39 p.m.]

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perspiration. They are also less irritable, she said.

Retired cabby S. H. Ng, 68, gave the thumbs up,and not just to the cooler wards. He also believesthe doctors and nurses are friendlier and morepassionate than when he was hospitalised atTTSH three years ago.

salma@sph.com.sg

www.facebook.com/ST.Salma

This story was first published in The Straits Times on March 8, 2013

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Air-con for B2, C class in TTSH

http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/case-you-missed-it/story/air-con-b2-c-class-ttsh-20130311[29/08/2014 4:27:39 p.m.]

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