Patient's disgust at mould in Middlemore Hospital bathroom

A bathroom in ward 1 at Middlemore Hospital had mould and mildew growing on the soap dishes. Photo / Kate Ngatai

Counties Manukau DHB has apologised after a patient was admitted to a filthy room at Middlemore Hospital which was thick with dust and had a mouldy, dirty bathroom.

Kate Ngatai moved into the room in ward 1 on Monday morning to be treated for a recurring kidney infection, but said the sight of her room left her feeling even sicker.

Kate Ngatai was shocked to be admitted to a filthy room at Middlemore Hospital this week. Photo / Kate Ngatai

She said the window sills were caked with dust, black mould was growing on the soap dish, hair lay in the sink and a pile of dirty laundry had been left behind and the rubbish bin was full.

The mother of three said the floor also looked like it had never been cleaned.

Dirty laundry had been left in the bathroom and the rubbish bin was full. Photo / Kate Ngatai

"It's not acceptable. I think it's absolutely disgusting to have mould in a room down in the dialysis ward.

"I'm quite a clean freak and an environment like that will make me really really ill."

Ngatai was so disgusted, she posted photos of the room on social media.

She also complained to the nurse and a cleaner arrived. The cleaner told Ngatai the soap dish was unable to be cleaned and would be replaced.

Ngatai, who has been in and out of hospital for the past 10 years, said this was the first time she had ever felt disgusted by a room.

Ngatai said it was not only just her room that was dirty, but her partner had also been upset by the dried blood on the floor of the waiting room of adult assessment area in the emergency department on Sunday night.

Middlemore Central general manager Dot McKeen said the patient was admitted before the room had its normal pre-admission clean.

He apologised the bed was not up to standard and said it had been discussed with staff and the soap dish was being replaced.

"This has been investigated and discussed also with the nursing staff who share the preparation of the bed space."

"As with any facility, the hospital has on-going maintenance requirements and these are addressed as quickly as possible to limit the impact on patients," McKeen said.

Sarndra Wharepapa's also shared her experience at the hospital facilities when son Jason wound up there last December following a motorcycle accident that left him with two legs and an arm in plaster.

She said he ended up in a shared room with four other men in ward 35, and the bathroom was out of order as it had vinyl peeling off the walls.

The bathroom in Jason Wharepapa's hospital room in December was out of order and had vinyl peeling off the wall and a cracked toilet. Photo / Sarndra Wharepapa

Instead the patients were told to share the bathroom next door, but with no wheelchairs available and most of the men in similar positions to her son she said it was impossible for them to get there unassisted.

"He was in there for probably a week and it didn't look like the bathroom was going to get fixed any time soon.

"Some of the patients before him said they had been in that room for three weeks and the bathroom had been like it the whole time they were there."