Dear Mr Forbes,

I am writing this as a nocturnalist emergency doctor and on behalf of the many doctors and nurses who work night shifts across the Western Sydney Local Health District. I was both shocked and disheartened to read your recent “Notice of Breach” regarding the Flying Turtle beverage machines.

(Edit: the breach letter requests “to remove all Flying Turtle machines from WSLHD facilities immediately. Failure to comply with this notice will result in the machines being impounded without further notice on the 31st October 2025”)

I understand the importance of compliance with procurement and dietary frameworks, but with all due respect, this decision shows a profound lack of understanding of what it’s actually like to work in a hospital at 3am. A privilege that I suspect you no doubt have never had to enjoy. During those hours, when the cafeteria is closed and there is not a single cafe open, these machines have been our only source of caffeine, warmth, affording us small comfort.

These policies are also archaic and I note that the replacement of sugar-sweetened drinks with similar artificially sweetened drinks leads to worse health outcomes. Indeed a recent study by Monash University demonstrated that artificially sweetened drinks increase the relative risk of developing type 2 diabetes by more than 65% compared to those consuming sugar-sweetened drinks. This trend is demonstrated in multiple areas including cardiovascular disease, obesity, gut microbiome and others. 

These drinks aren’t a luxury. They are a necessity for staff who are awake for 10 to 12 hours caring for critically ill patients. Removing them without providing a viable alternative is not only demoralising but also potentially dangerous. Fatigued doctors make mistakes; that’s not an abstract compliance issue, that’s patient safety.

It’s incredibly frustrating that decisions like this are made without any consultation with the staff who will be directly affected. It begs the question: what problem is the indiscriminate enforcement of policy trying to solve? Who does this benefit? I certainly cannot see that this will benefit the staff and employees at WSLHD who overwhelmingly enjoy and support ongoing access to our beverages.

We’ve already lost so many things that make this job survivable. NSW is already the worst paid state in Australia, with WSLHD grossly understaffed to serve our community. The 50% theft of salary packaging benefits which I remind you that HSU members no longer need to suffer were NOT extended to the actual patient facing workers: the nurses and doctors. To take away one of the few sources of morale, energy, and humanity on night shift feels needlessly punitive and tone deaf in the face of all that is wrong in NSW Health, especially when there are bigger problems to solve.

If this is truly about “healthy food and drink frameworks”, then please explain what provisions are being made for staff working overnight — not in theory, but in reality. Are we expected to survive on tepid water from a cooler and the hope of an instant coffee sachet or tea bag and unexpired UHT milk?

Lastly, these machines also serve a fundraising purpose with a small portion of the proceeds going to the social fund for the various department they are located in. These funds could then be utilised for staff wellbeing activities. Specifically, there is an exemption in the healthy food policy for fundraising activities.

Ultimately, any action of the sort described in your letter will likely be perceived to be harmful to staff morale and wellbeing and could further aggravate an already aggrieved wounded workforce.  I strongly urge you and the Corporate Procurement team to reconsider this action immediately and ask yourself, “Is this the hill I want to die on?”.

Respectfully,
Dr Bi
Just another doctor who works night shifts