"Temperatures in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary"

Since his cardiac arrest, my husband has generally been well, and keeps really fit, apart from a dodgy gall bladder. 3 weeks ago, he was admitted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary to have his gall bladder removed. His anatomy is complex due to previous bouts of pancreatitis and sepsis, the surgery was difficult, and his bile duct was cut. It was immediately repaired and apart from having 2 drains, he made a really good recovery for the first few days. Then the weather improved and the temperature in his room rose to 27C and higher. Within 2 days his heart became unstable with periods of a HR below 30 for several hours. This was extremely distressing for him. Six days after these symptoms developed, cardiology diagnosed dehydration, which wasn’t showing up in blood tests. Once he started drinking loads, his heart stabilised. I have no doubt that the temperature in the ward was a significant factor in his illness. My husband's recovery was delayed by around a week due to this issue and a huge amount of resource was used to help and support him, that may not have been necessary if the room had simply been at a sensible temperature. The staff have been great with him, caring and dedicated, but they have to work in these temperatures too and their job is hard enough without having to cope with excessive heat.

This is the first time my husband's heart has become unstable since he recovered from his cardiac arrest.

I appreciate that parts of the building are old and the HVAC not designed for the current configuration of rooms, but something really has to be done about this, no matter how unwelcome the expense. It is putting patients lives at risk and making nurses very uncomfortable. Patient safety is paramount and the temperature issue must be resolved before a life is lost.