"With hand washing we now put most things through three sinks in a row - warm water and dishwashing liquid, clean water and then warm water with sanitiser in it. The required temperature for washing dishes is water at 62C. We don't reach that. We couldn't put our hands in the water if it was that hot."
The worker said the hand washing had also led to health problems for the five staff.
"We are all in our 40s and 50s. We have sore shoulders, necks and pain just above the tailbone. There was no set-up before we started doing so much washing by hand. No health and safety rep came and looked at it."
The worker said a replacement dishwasher could cost $200,000. The old one, at least 30 years old, had been playing up for years.
"They were always fixing it, fixing it, fixing it but it was only a sticking plaster, really."
The kitchen was run by Spotless and the machine was serviced by a company called Extol/asset services, the worker understood.
Staff were told three weeks ago to shut down the dishwasher, use a small dishwasher for crockery and cutlery and hand wash the rest.
"The floor ends up like a little Virginia Lake because of all the water, it's hard to keep dry when washing patient trays by hand."
The worker suspects the problem won't be fixed because the kitchen will switch to cook-chill methods of preparing food, where everything is brought in from outside the hospital kitchen.
Other parts of the kitchen are not being repaired. One staff member has tripped up twice on lifting lino.
"We are getting so sick of this. Our employers expect us to put up with it." The WDHB says it has been working with Spotless to replace equipment, including the dishwasher, steam kettles, ovens and Bratt Pans frying pans over coming weeks with completion by the end of October.
"We can confirm there have been no outbreaks of vomiting or diarrhoea in ED, the Medical Ward or any other hospital department in recent weeks," said WDHB general manager strategic and corporate Brian Walden. "Spotless and the WDHB acknowledge that Spotless staff working in the kitchens have experienced some disruption.
"However, additional support has been provided to help them cope with the extra workload that has occurred. When the dishwasher broke down, Spotless immediately modified its food safety processes to mitigate any risks and maintain food and patient safety.
"Health and safety concerns raised by Spotless staff have been addressed by Spotless through regular and special health and safety meetings."
Spotless would not comment further on why staff were still having health problems or whether dish-washing water had to be a specific temperature.