When Robyn Cummins visited her brother in Wollongong Hospital this week she was shocked by what she saw.
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The table in his seventh floor room was held together by elastoplast, a large crack in the window had been hastily repaired with silicone, and she described parts of the room as being "filthy dirty".
"It was like the Third World. The table was held together with elastoplast and the window was held together with silicone," she said.
"The windows were filthy dirty. The area where the television was was filthy dirty.
"I couldn't believe it, not in Wollongong Hospital. You probably wouldn't see that in a country hospital.
"My daughter is married to an African and she said you wouldn't see it over there.
"Everybody I have shown the photo to can't believe it was in Wollongong Hospital."
The Dapto woman said her brother was later moved to the sixth floor, which she said had been recently renovated and was a huge improvement.
Mrs Cummins was quick to praise the hospital staff, whom she said were sympathetic and did their best in the conditions they were given.
Instead she thought the problems were due to inadequate government funding.
"It's not the nurses fault, they are doing the best they can. They are working their butts off," she said.
"I used to work in a nursing home. All nurses are worth a lot more than what they get for what they do, and for what they have to put up with.
"I asked the sister about it and she said, 'I've sent away for more tables but ... ', and she stopped there," Mrs Cummins said.
Mrs Cummins believed there may be a safety issue with the table.
"[My brother] turned to talk to me and the table raised up.
"If he had been leaning over it, it would have hit him in the face," she said.
A spokesperson for Wollongong Hospital said the hospital always took seriously any concerns raised by patients and their families.
"Management today contacted the patient directly to discuss concerns raised by a family member about the patient's hospital room," the spokesperson said.
"The patient did not raise these issues with nursing staff while in hospital or they would have been addressed immediately.
"The silicone window repair is an interim safety measure until the glass can be replaced and the damaged over-bed table has been removed from the ward.
"Patients and their families are always encouraged to speak with ward staff or nursing/hospital management if they have concerns."