Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison air-conditioning to cost $4.3 million

Hawke's Bay Regional Prison is poised for an air-con makeover, while Hawke's Bay Hospital has just 60% air conditioning. Composite image / NZME

The Department of Corrections is paying an estimated $4.3 million to install air-conditioning at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison, while 10 minutes down the road, about 40% of Hawke’s Bay Hospital has none.

Numerous complaints have been made about the need for air-conditioning at the hospital by both patients and staff over the past decade.

In the summer of 2021, patients and staff were given fans and breathable uniforms in lieu of air-conditioning.

Today, about 60% of the hospital has air-conditioning and, of the areas that don’t, “many are not patient-facing”, says Steve Crombie, regional head of infrastructure central at Health NZ.

“Patient safety is always our highest priority, and we have effective measures in place.

“Those areas currently without air-conditioning are being considered as part of the planning and prioritisation process for future capital expenditure.

“This includes the redevelopment of Hawke’s Bay Hospital as signalled in the Health Infrastructure Plan.”

This plan was released in April as part of the Government’s 10-year plan for reviving the country’s infrastructure.

Crombie said work had started on a business case for the redevelopment.

The hospital’s wait comes as the Department of Corrections said last month that it would install wall-mounted air-conditioning units in parts of Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison.

In information released to Hawke’s Bay Today as part of an Official Information Act request, Corrections said $35,000 had already been spent on the upgrade since August.

Work on the upgrade is expected to be completed by early next year and has been funded from within Corrections’ existing baseline costs, with the total cost estimated to be $4.3 million.

Corrections said in a statement that, during summer, frontline staff worked tirelessly to manage prisoners in hot and confined spaces and conditions, sometimes while wearing heavy equipment such as stab-resistant body armour.

“Prisons can be extremely volatile environments, and heat can significantly increase prisoner tension and aggression, creating a real risk that a staff member or prisoner could be seriously hurt.

“Some units at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison currently have no air-conditioning, which poses significant health and safety risks to our frontline staff and people we manage.”

The statement said upgrading the air-conditioning would increase the availability of high-security beds across Corrections’ prison network, which was “critical to ensuring we can securely manage an increasing prison population” and “therefore keep the public safe”.

Last month, Hawke’s Bay Today revealed that Corrections was considering expanding the prison to accommodate up to 464 more high-security inmates.

Corrections said at the time that it was a “potential project”, and nothing had been confirmed.

Labour’s corrections spokeswoman, Tracey McLellan, said decent working conditions in prisons mattered for both staff and prisoners.

“But it’s hard to explain $4.3m for prison air-con while Hawke’s Bay Hospital still swelters without it.

“Patients and health workers shouldn’t be at the back of the queue.”

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in the UK, Germany, and New Zealand.