Urgent security review for all NSW public hospitals after alleged gas sabotage

All NSW public hospitals will urgently audit the security of medical gases as authorities investigate the death of a 72-year-old man at a Sydney hospital about an hour after a woman allegedly switched off the facility’s supplies in an act of sabotage.

Vanessa Moulton, 42, was arrested at 2am on Tuesday after allegedly destroying electrical wiring and scaling a wall to access a restricted area at The Sutherland Hospital in Caringbah in Sydney’s south. Police allege she also tampered with water and gas mains and activated fire hoses at the nearby Kareena Private Hospital before her arrest.

Moulton was charged with two counts of public nuisance, two counts of entering the premises without a lawful excuse, sabotage, destroying or damaging property and a breach of bail.

Moulton briefly appeared on screen at Sutherland Local Court on Wednesday morning after declining the assistance of Legal Aid.

“No, thanks,” she said when magistrate Pilar Lopez repeatedly offered the chance to discuss the “very serious” matters with a lawyer.

“I didn’t do it. Just that I didn’t do it,” she said when asked what she would like to tell the court.

Moulton was refused bail to reappear at the Downing Centre Local Court on Christmas Eve.

She was charged with intentionally destroying property, being the electrical wiring of Sutherland Hospital.

She had allegedly trespassed at Nate’s Backpackers in Darlinghurst and damaged the fire alarm panel in the days before her arrest.

Moulton admitted to breaching her bail by not reporting to police on Monday, telling the court that she got the dates mixed up.

Police were told that the man died at Sutherland Hospital at 2.30am, about one hour after Moulton allegedly switched off the gas mains at the facility.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said he had ordered a full audit of medical gases at every NSW public hospital to ensure they are complying with standards and as secure as possible.

“We want to make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” he said. “Medical gases are used by clinicians to preserve life and treat people. So the level of seriousness of this incident is something that, to me, is simply astonishing.”

Park said on Tuesday the alleged act of “deliberate sabotage” had no impact on patients, but clarified those comments on Wednesday.

“I [was] informed later on yesterday afternoon, into the evening, that there was ... an elderly palliative patient who passed away. This morning, I phoned the family to extend my deepest condolences.”

A death certificate was issued, Park said, indicating it was not initially treated as suspicious. The incident has now been referred to the coroner.

A South Eastern Sydney Local Health District spokesperson said it was investigating the death and would carefully consider any findings and recommendations from the coroner’s investigation.

Sutherland Hospital switched to portable oxygen and air under contingency plans triggered on Tuesday morning, and had restored the gas systems about two hours after the alleged vandalism.

There are 360 beds at Sutherland Hospital, which provides critical services spanning emergency care, cancer treatment, a birthing unit, and respiratory and geriatric care.

On Wednesday, Premier Chris Minns said he was “obviously concerned” by the death, vowing it would be “fully investigated”.

“We want to make sure the [patient’s] family has as much information as we have,” he said. “I want to assure patients and families across NSW Health, as well as the workers who rely on that infrastructure to work, that we’re going to do everything we can to keep them safe.”

Minns said a “full security audit” would determine how the alleged offender gained access to the gas main, suggesting it “may well have been the case that it was believed no-one would be so callous, or so cruel”.

Health Services Union secretary Gerard Hayes said hospital security guards, who are represented by the union, were seeing an increase in violence and complex mental health presentations, particularly in emergency departments.

“The security officers have very little power … not only do they have to look after patient and staff security, they have to look after the grounds,” Hayes said. “You can’t really look after the grounds when you’re struggling to look after the hospital.”

At Kareena Private Hospital, Moulton turned off the mains water supply and tampered with three main control points “which all have a direct correlation to the supply of natural gas to the hospital”, court documents allege.

A Ramsay Health Care spokeswoman confirmed there had been no impact to patients from the alleged tampering of mains water and non-medical gas supply at Kareena Private Hospital.

“All services were quickly restored with minimal disruption and no impact to patient care,” she said.

The alleged vandalism is being investigated as a mental health incident.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.