Hospital worker left without heating or hot water for three months at on-site accommodation

A hospital worker claims she has been left without heating and hot water for three months while living at the on-site accommodation at Wales' largest hospital.Susan Crabtree has worked as a caterer at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff for more than six years, living on and off at Carmarthen House at the Heath campus during this time.While her heating was meant to be turned on from October 1 she has now gone weeks without it while she is only able to have tepid showers in between shifts.Her flat has become so cold that she claims she has had to wear a coat to bed on top of her pyjamas and dressing gown while also admitting that she now prefers going to work than staying at home with the warmth of the ovens in the kitchen that she works in providing a welcome break from the bitter cold.

With outside temperatures dropping to as low as -12°C overnight in some parts of Wales in recent weeks it is unsurprising that the cold has had an impact on Susan's health.

The caterer, who also worked at Llandough Hospital for five years, suffers with long Covid. She claims the effects of that have been exacerbated by her living conditions as she has suffered a bad chest over the Christmas period.But despite her desperate pleas to get her heating turned on as a matter of urgency Susan claims that she has been ignored and "fobbed off" at every turn having regularly spoken to accommodation managers as well as her own managers and trying to contact with the chief executive of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.

The health board say that the heating and hot water system at Carmarthen House was finally made fully operational on December 23, putting the delay down to change in temperatures and national supply issues.

But Susan claims she is still without heat and hot water as the new year approaches and is now at the "end of her tether" having endured the cold while working over Christmas."I was told that the boiler should have been checked in the summer but it wasn’t," she said. "It should have gone on in the first week of October and yet here we are. As a result I've had no heating for months and the water isn't warm either – the best I can do is have a tepid shower."The weather has been really cold lately. During the recent cold spell that we had I had to have my pyjamas, my dressing gown, and a coat on when I went to bed just to keep warm. How can that be allowed to happen?"Susan says that the conditions in her flat have been so bad she has preferred working over Christmas to having time off and has dreaded going back home after her shifts have ended – instead wanting to stay in the warmth of the hospital kitchen."I worked all over Christmas this year – Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and the next day," she said. "People always congratulate me for that but the fact is I was also going in to keep warm. When I’m in the kitchen and the ovens are on I just think how lovely and warm it is and I often think I’d rather be in work than back in my flat. It's always absolutely boiling in the hospital – even over the summer."Susan claimed she was now having issues with her chest that could force her to take time off work. "I’m struggling with my chest now," she said. "It's really on there. I’ve got long Covid anyway but it’s being made a lot worse by the cold. It’s so frustrating because I can feel myself being made more and more unwell but I can’t seem to do anything about it."

Susan said she had "tried everything" but her dire situation remains the same. Having lived at Carmarthen House for more than six years she is determined not to be forced out and desperate for something to be done."I’ve been back and forth with so many people and tried everything I can think of," she said.

"I’ve gone to maintenance, my managers at work, a councillor, Citizens Advice – I’ve even tried to get in touch with the chief executive of the health board. But yet I’m still waiting. I’m just not getting anywhere and I’m at the end of my tether now – I don’t know where else to turn."I've been over to the other accommodation where the doctors and surgeons stay and I said to the management over there: 'If it was their heating that was broken they absolutely would have it fixed the next day.' Some of the floors in Carmarthen House have their heating working but not me."She added: "I do not want to move out of the accommodation or the area, I really don't. So I will fight this as much as I can but living like this is really making me concerned about my health. It’s not fair. It should have been sorted weeks ago but now I’m absolutely desperate. I just want it to be fixed."

A spokesman for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board apologised for the length of time that Susan had been without heating or hot water but claimed that the system at Carmarthen House had been fully operational since December 23. A dramatic change in temperatures, as well as the age of the accommodation and national supply issues, were all cited as reasons for the loss of heating and the subsequent delay in resolving the issue.“We apologise for Susan’s recent experience with heating and hot water issues whilst living in our colleague accommodation at Carmarthen House," the spokesman said. "The rate of change in the temperatures this winter has placed heating and hot water systems under significant pressure and subsequently resulted in short periods of partial or full loss of hot water and heating at Carmarthen House. The age of the estate is also an influential factor in this."Unfortunately there continue to be national supply chain issues and our teams are working tirelessly to source parts as quickly as possible to restore faults – sometimes these do take longer than we would like and we apologise for this."They added: "The heating and hot water system at Carmarthen House has now been fully operational since December 23 and colleagues are monitoring the system closely. We encourage residents to continue reporting any issues via the appropriate channels so they can be reviewed and resolved as quickly as possible. Thank you to residents for their patience while the issues were resolved.”