A brand new $98 million hospital in Bathurst in NSW's central west has been deemed so unsafe that routine elective surgery has been suspended; doctors at the hospital say there are serious flaws in the design and construction of the facilities.
The medical staff say the hospital is dysfunctional and they are concerned that faults such as raw sewage leaking from a pipe into the maternity ward, inadequate alarm systems and major pager and mobile phone failures could be putting patients' lives are at risk.
Other worries include hanging points and access to sheer drops outside the mental health unit which remains empty along with inadequate theatres.
The level of concern is such that the demolition of the old hospital has been suspended for the time being by the Health Department in case it may be needed.
Chris Halloway the chairman of the Medical Staff Council says the hospital which opened three weeks ago is unsafe.
Critics have condemned both the Premier and Health Minister for allowing the construction to be carried out without knowing whether frontline clinicians had been consulted on the rebuild.
Halloway says areas in intensive care, operating theatres and accident and emergency were too small and the inadequate alarm system was "a pivotal safety issue".
Another concern is that only half of the intensive care beds could be seen from the nurses station due to poor design.
Halloway says the community in Bathurst do not have the health care facility that they had a couple of months ago; dozens of patients have had their surgery postponed.