Potentially fatal flaw at new RAH is a water cooling tower that previously flooded two floors
EXCLUSIVE: The major claimed safety fault at the $2.1 billion new Royal Adelaide Hospital site can be revealed, amid SA Government fears it could be fatal should it occur again after open day.
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A WATER cooling system at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, which has previously blown and flooded two floors, is the major claimed safety fault at the $2.1 billion site, amid Government fears a full evacuation would be triggered and deaths likely if it occurred again after open day.
Health Minister Jack Snelling last month rejected a so-called “cure plan” from the new RAH builders, which spelled out how the delayed new hospital would be completed.
He publicly cited unspecified “safety” concerns, and said changes were needed so the building was fit for patients.
The Advertiser has obtained a cure plan progress report, by North consultants and dated this Monday, which lists the top “key compliance issue” as a “mechanical chilled and condensed water system” that was the subject of a Government default notice issued in October.
It is understood the system, which cycles cold water through the hospital to maintain airconditioners and stop medical equipment from overheating, seriously failed in May.
The Government is demanding a costly cooling system upgrade, fearing the entire building would have to be evacuated if it failed with patients present and deaths would be likely.
The cost of adding backups demanded by the Government is unclear, but estimated at about $85 million.
Sources familiar with the build say a gasket in the high-pressure system blew in the early hours of the morning when workers were not on-site, flooding rooms and leaking into a floor below.
It took several weeks for the system to be refilled with water, repaired and up and running again.
The incident was separate to a common pipe burst and flood which became public in February, and is not part of a current Supreme Court battle over other more minor hospital defects.
The Government’s complaint hinges on both the direct damage of flooding and concerns of knock-on effects for vulnerable patients if airconditioning failed and machines were out of commission for several weeks.
It fears, with the old RAH set for demolition, there would be nowhere for patients to be evacuated from the new hospital and some may have to go interstate.
The cure plan update shows the Government and builders are in dispute over the ongoing reliability of the system and adequacy of back-up plans.
The report states the Government has been given independent reports which builders believe show it has met the contract standard.
The Government is denying the water system is up to the safety standard the contract demands.
Industry sources also say such a catastrophic flooding event would not occur once the hospital was up and running, as maintenance crews would be on-site at all times and ready to respond.
However, the Government believes that serious risks to patients would remain even if future leaks were minimised, as breaks in one part of the hospital would affect cooling across the site.
It is understood the Government is seeking an expensive full back-up of the water system, rather than the ability for workmen to isolate areas affected by any future bursts and then repair them.
It is also threatening to take the dramatic step of cancelling the new RAH contract and bringing in new builders if the demands are not met.
Such an extreme more would trigger multiple countersuits from the consortium and linked businesses worth about $5 billion combined.
Mr Snelling declined a request to comment on the water system faults.
However, he told Parliament the Government was determined to protect taxpayers from repair costs that should be carried by the builder and ensure the finished hospital was completely safe.
“I can make one thing very, very clear. There are critical issues with that hospital that need to
be fixed before it is safe to put patients in there,” Mr Snelling told Question Time.
“I will not go weak at the knees and I will not be compromising on patient safety because I get intimidated, unlike the Opposition who are so easily intimidated by the big boys from NSW who come over.
“We do have a very strong contract. That contract does have ramifications for noncompliance.”
SA Health Partnership chief executive Duncan Jewell said the consortium and builder believe they have met the design and safety requirements of the condensed water cooling system.
“The system is both safe and reliable,” he said.
“The state has a different view, as to operational safety and reliability, as outlined by the minister.
“I note the failure occurred while the system was being commissioned and tested, not when it was fully operational.”
Mr Jewell said a “review process” would start on Monday with the Government to “work through the alleged issues and determine the operational safety and reliability of the system”.
“Third party expert reliability analysis undertaken for SAHP shows a reliability of 99.992 per cent over the design life of the system assuming the system is properly maintained,” he said.
“I look forward to working in a constructive manner with the state over the next few weeks.”
Opposition health spokesman Stephen Wade said the latest dispute was “further evidence of a poorly drafted contract that has been badly managed by the Weatherill Government”.
“If the contract was as strong as the minister says it is, there should be no doubt what is required,” Mr Wade said.
“If the project was being actively managed, the defect would have been identified long ago and included in the list of defects before the Supreme Court.”
He said the new RAH was already eight months overdue, with no opening date in sight.
Other issues in the cure plan update include works underway to fix radiation shields and progress in completing required building tests. It says the builders were “on track” for a June 13 open.