Friday, Aug 29, 2014 TheBigStory NEWS PREMIUM LIFESTYLE TECH COMMUNITIES VIDEO MULTIMEDIA MORE IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Air-con for B2, C class in TTSH Renovated 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-slip flooring, a toilet and shower within each five-bed unit, cushioned floors and decentralised nursing stations. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM LOG IN SUBSCRIBE VIDEOS MORE STORIES Street View: Road by day, veggie market by night Street View: Residents cheer new face of Bedok Street View: The old-world beauty of Beauty World Street View: Goodbye to iconic fast-food joint at Bt Timah Street View: Buona Vista pools have a place in many hearts Street View: HDB estate with grave links to the past Streetview: Staying open for late shoppers Murder, he solves: ASP Roy Lim will work round the clock to beat crime 40-year nursing veteran: Caring for the ill since the days of Woodbridge Air force veteran in pilot's seat of T4 project 1 of 98 MOST POPULAR loading... Specially for subscribers Print edition stories E-paper Premium breaking news Unionists worried about new CPF option Home The Big Story Story 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 "spot cooling" 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 soften falls, and decentralised nursing stations. PUBLISHED ON MAR 11, 2013 2:23 PM Search StraitsTimes.com 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.] Last-minute appeal by over 1,200 for pioneer package SMRT still keen to charter out trains during off-peak hours A journalist 'gifted with vocabulary of an artist' Mt Elizabeth Novena to help ease TTSH bed crunch Private help to ease bed crunch ST photographer wins top award Social media may not spur diversity of views: Survey GIC invests in music streaming firm Colourful end to golden games MAS suffers $300m loss in first half Group captures UN peacekeepers in Syria near Israel Three-pronged way to boost productivity: Swee Say The News in 5 Minutes Ms Wong Mui Peng, TTSH's deputy director of nursing, said having one nurse station per room of five or six beds - instead of all them working from one central location - has resulted in nurses walking 3.6km less each shift. The 1.5 hours each nurse saves are better spent caring for patients. The renovated C class has six beds to a room and is also air-conditioned, although patients still share communal toilets and showers. Public hospitals typically have B2 and C class wards which lack some of the comforts of B1 and A class wards. Patients in B2 and C class wards usually have to walk to communal toilets, do without air-conditioning, and share their room with a dozen or more people. This is to discourage people from choosing the highly subsidised B2 and C class wards if they can afford better. Subsidy is as high as 80 per cent in C class, compared to 20 per cent in B1 and none in A class. But following the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in 2003 which spread within hospitals, having fewer people sharing facilities made medical sense. So the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) in Yishun, which opened in 2010, has adjoining toilet and shower facilities in rooms with only five patients in subsidised wards, although there is no air-conditioning. A spokesman for KTPH said the hospital was built to take advantage of natural breeze with full height windows, but admitted that temperatures can go as high as 33 deg C in hot months. Other public hospitals also said they were unlikely to introduce air-conditioning in subsidised wards. The National University Hospital air-conditions the main corridors, but not the subsidised wards. Its spokesman said a roof garden above its main building helps to keep down the temperature 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 and irritations for patients," he added. TTSH's new system dispenses cool air which is then circulated through the ward cubicles by a central fan. The hospital has been getting positive feedback from its patients, and intends to install similar air- conditioning units in all its subsidised wards. Two wards are under renovation, and the rest will be upgraded in stages. Nurse manager Adelaida Sioson believes patients are "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.] ARCHI VE S M T W T F S 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 FOLLOW ST SEARCH THE STRAI TS TI MES ST SECTI ONS News: Singapore Asia World Money Sports Technology Lifestyle Premium: Top of The News Singapore Asia World Money Sports Life! Insight Opinion Forum Letters ST sites: Singapolitics Asia Report Readers' Post ST Communities Photos / Art : Through The Lens News in Pictures Photo Galleries Infographics Projects: Childaid School Pocket Money Fund Parliament NEWS PRODUCTS E-paper iPhone Android News Alert The Business Times | BT Invest RazorTV STOMP Jobs | Property | Cars | Classifieds School Pocket Money Fund Asia News Network AsiaOne Zaobao SPH WEBSI TES 5 people like this. Be the first of your friends. Like 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 believes the doctors and nurses are friendlier and more passionate than when he was hospitalised at TTSH 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 To subscribe to The Straits Times, please go to http://www.sphsubscription.com.sg/eshop/ 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.] CUSTOMER CARE Subscribe About Us Advertise FAQ Mobile app FAQ ST Star app FAQ Contact Us Hot FM 91.3 Kiss 92 FM SPH Digital News / Copyright 2014 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co. Regn No. 198402868E. All rights reserved. Terms & Conditions | Data Protection Policy