Fiona Stanley Hospital equipment: Photos of out of date catheterisation lab held together with tape revealed

This is the cardiac equipment that hospital bosses insisted is “safe and fit for purpose” despite being a year past its recommended replacement date. Confronted by photos that show duct tape wrapped around the mechanical arms of the cardiac catheterisation lab at Fiona Stanley Hospital, and a tear in the protective screen, WA Health Director-General Shirley Bowen accidentally included The West Australian in her email response to staff. “Where did Jess Page get this photo?” she said. “I think this will have to be investigated. And the tape is there in red so people don’t hit their head!!” An official response hours later didn’t say whether an investigation will go ahead. “The equipment is safe to use,” the South Metropolitan Health Service said, via a statement. “Like all hospitals, SMHS has a review process for identifying and replacing end of life assets across our entire health service and prioritises these taking a risk-based approach.” Fiona Stanley Hospital has five cardiac catheterisation labs, used to diagnose heart conditions and place stents and pacemakers, which were all purshased in 2014 and have a 10-year “recommended useful life” according to Medicare guidelines. A business case is underway, but a whistleblower has told The West it will take at least eight months to procure replacement equipment and six weeks to install. “They have been breaking down and patients have had to be moved during procedures because the machines are busted,” they said. Shadow Health Minister Libby Mettam urged the Government to find the estimated $10 million to replace the five labs urgently. “Western Australians deserve better than hospital equipment held together with sticky tape and promises,” she said. “This government has the money to do better, it just doesn’t have the will. It’s all about priorities.” It’s the same piece of equipment that was the subject of a bombshell letter, obtained by The West, that warned the South Metropolitan Health Service board of “major risks” due to the age of the labs, and that equipment failure was becoming commonplace “Ageing equipment reduces diagnostic accuracy and increases risks to patients and staff,” Head of Cardiology Jamie Rankin wrote in October 2023. “We had unexpected simultaneous failures in two of our Cathlabs on the same day which severely reduced our capacity for 48 hours. Earlier this year we had serial failure of a Cardiac Ultrasound machine . . . requiring repeat invasive procedures. “The imaging quality deteriorates. The equipment then uses a higher radiation dose, and the clinicians often need to take additional X-Ray images to maintain diagnostic accuracy.”