Investigation reveals scale of disrepair, suspected black mould at Royal Perth Hospital

Royal Perth Hospital staff are lodging more than 50 maintenance requests a day, on average, as just 10 per cent of the $50 million promised in August for a maintenance blitz has been spent. Figures obtained by The West Australian reveal the scale of disrepair — and suspected black mould — at WA’s main trauma hospital. It comes as the State Government braces for the results of a hospital maintenance review. The snap review, earmarked for completion in November, is yet to land on Cabinet ministers’ desks. As the audit languishes, The West can reveal RPH maintenance staff were inundated with 42,637 work orders between January 2023 and June 2025. Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital received almost 1100 work orders in the same period. The shocking SCGH figures were revealed by The West in August, with internal documents detailing repeated infrastructure breakdown and sparking a major overhaul of maintenance procurement. The Cook Government downplayed the latest figure, saying RPH’s maintenance log includes “preventative maintenance”. “Work orders are raised by staff but often do not accurately reflect the cause of a maintenance issue. Maintenance requests are therefore not an accurate indicator of the actual issue,” it said. A hospital spokesman said all large buildings and public assets like RPH require ongoing maintenance, “with more than one-fifth of work orders for preventative maintenance”. Eliminating that figure would still leave more than 34,000 work orders, or about 41 a day. It comes as little surprise to those who work there, with some buildings among the ageing infrastructure dating as far back as 1855. Ten of those work orders related to burst pipes, and 13 were for suspected black mould. However, “some of these did not eventuate to have been mould”. An RPH spokesman would not confirm how many resulted in mould or black mould. The pending audit and related maintenance fund for urgent repairs at Perth’s three oldest hospitals — SCGH, RPH and Armadale Health Service — were announced on August 18 following The West’s investigation exposing the disrepair plaguing SCGH. The “short and sharp” review is focused on improving procurement and contract management. Four months later, it’s yet to materialise. Health Infrastructure Minister John Carey said the top bureaucrats undertaking the audit, former under-treasurer Michael Barnes and former director-general Neale Fong, were still “finalising their report”. “The $50m maintenance blitz is delivering a range of works from minor maintenance to upgrades across Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Royal Perth Hospital and Armadale Health Service,” Mr Carey said. “More than 10 per cent of the fund has been expended so far and there is additional work underway, for which payments have not yet been processed.” Other critical works being undertaken at RPH include the replacement of hundreds of windows in A Block, which are not up to scratch per Australian building standards. A 2023 condition report, obtained by The West, revealed the review was undertaken “in response to incidents that have occurred at RPH as a result of patients being able to break windows and gain access to balconies”. It found “a significant number” of windows contained annealed glass, which tends to break into sharp fragments. The current national standard requires strengthened safety glass to be used in areas where glass is likely to be broken. “Many of the windows contain the original glazing, which is thin, easily breakable and creates large glass shards when broken,” the report said. “Shards are then able to be weaponised and pose a risk for patients to cause harm to themselves or others.” Meanwhile in R Block, the waterproof membrane on the roof has failed, with “unwanted water ingress” leaking into the building. It will require a full replacement, with contractors instructed to “make allowances for helicopter shutdowns for incoming and outgoing traffic as works will be conducted in a live operational environment”. RPH’s new S Block, which starts construction next year, was part of the government’s $1.5 billion cash splash on hospital projects. Only half of the floors in the new building will be operational by 2028 under a staged development approach.