Senior Canberra Health Services employees who raised concerns about Garran Surge Centre asked to 'stand down'

An external review of the $14 million facility found it was not fit to treat COVID-19 patients and had fire safety and ventilation issues.

The Garran Surge Centre was built on Garran Oval in 37 days and was described as being a temporary, pop-up emergency department.

It was intended to have 50 beds, including six resuscitation bays, to treat COVID-19 patients in the case that hospitals were overwhelmed.

The centre was ultimately used as a COVID-19 testing and vaccination centre.

Engineering consultancy Barmco Mana McMurray (BMM) published a report on the centre in October 2021.

The review remained hidden from the public until The Canberra Times obtained it through a Freedom of Information request.

The report said there were "a number of questions in relation to fire engineering components of the facility".

Because of the number of ventilators in the centre, it could be at a greater risk of fire, the report said.

The original fire engineering report identified the centre as having treatment areas and not ward areas.

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This definition was important because they have different fire engineering compliance requirements, the report said.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the facility was to be used as an emergency department and not a ward.

An ACT government spokesperson said: "the facility was never designed to be an in-patient ward area. A 'treatment area' and a 'ward area' have different requirements as the spaces are used for different purposes. The Facility was safe and compliant for the purposes for which it was used."

However, the BMM report claimed the rooms should have been defined as "ward areas" because of the building specifications.

"This seems like a fundamental problem for the effective use of this facility as a COVID-19 surge centre," BMM said in the report.

"This also seems to contradict the [World Health Organisation Severe Acute Respiratory Infections Treatment Centre] Manual wards."

Aspen Medical, contracted to build the centre, said it based the design on the WHO guidelines.

In emails sent in April and May 2020, two senior Canberra Health Services employees raised concerns about the design of the Garran Surge Centre.

An ACT government spokesperson said the two people were part of a management team which "generally reviews design documents for all related infrastructure projects."

In an email sent on April 22, a month before the centre opened, one of the senior executives asked 27 questions about concerns including fire plans, air pressure, and ventilation.

"Sorry there is a lot in the comments, however the air quality for this building is critical for a successful project outcome," the employee wrote.

After receiving a response in May, the staff member questioned the identification of the facility as a treatment area instead of a ward area.

He also followed up on concerns around the potential fire safety risk in the centre.

"In consideration of the risks of potentially enriched oxygen levels, high levels of human occupation, non-ambulant patients, the absence of fire hose reels, and the high volume of inpatient cohort; the lack of fire compartmentalisation, active smoke control, and fire sprinklers should be discussed further with [Canberra Health Services] as a matter of importance," he wrote.

His enquiries were supported by his colleague, another manager at Canberra Health Services, who said: "I support your comments.

"In reality evacuating a patients [sic] defined as treatment is no easier than those defined as Ward [sic]".

In response, a senior manager on the surge centre project asked the two men to be stood down from their review.

"Can I ask that [the two employees] be requested to stand down today from the detailed review that they are undertaking," she wrote to another health executive in an email flagged as "High Importance".

"My concern is that the dilution of review responsibilities across many stakeholders will compromise the technical work and effort to date and it will become a risk to the project objectives.

"The Territory has engaged Aspen Medical technical consultants, the Independent Building Certifier and AECOM.

"A fire engineering strategy has been developed by a Fire Engineering consultant, reviewed by the independent Building Certifier and FM Peer Review agent, and reviewed and accepted by the ACT Fire Brigade with additional review and input from Access Canberra."

The senior executives were not the only people to raise alarms before the facility opened.

A report published in August 2020 suggested questions raised by engineers remained unanswered by Aspen Medical before construction ended.

The ACT government commissioned construction engineering company AECOM to review the Garran Surge Centre.

AECOM raised concerns about ventilation and fire safety, as is seen in a report The Canberra Times obtained through Freedom of Information.

Aspen Medical insisted it responded to all the concerns raised by engineers.

A draft of the report was submitted to the ACT government on May 15, six days before the centre opened. The Canberra Times has not read the draft report.

The final report, published in August 2020, said: "There are a number of design queries which were not subject to responses from Aspen or the design team."

This included documentation and information relating to pressure regimes, fire mode operations, HVAC system controls, mechanical electrical installation and medical gas installation.

Comments which are shown in the report as being unresolved include those relating to fire safety and ventilation.

Aspen Medical said: "We did respond to AECOM after we received their comments.

"In late April 2020, AECOM interacted with Aspen Medical's contractor directly before providing written comments to Aspen Medical on 28 April, the first day AECOM visited the facility. We responded to their comments starting on 4 May through to 18 June 2020.

"We can confirm that the design was adapted and supported by additional infection prevention and control procedures."

An ACT government spokesperson said the surge centre was exempt from some requirements of the Building Code of Australia.

"A certificate of occupancy for the Surge Centre was issued as part of the handover process from Aspen Medical to [Canberra Health Services," they said.

"The certificate of occupancy noted some Building Code of Australia (BCA) exemptions, i.e. Section J building energy efficiency compliance. While the energy efficiency compliance was exempt, the core health and safety elements under the BCA, including structural, fire safety, and access/egress were all addressed as part of building approval for this temporary structure."

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