'I can't breathe': families share painful stories as mould death legal action looms

"My daughter kept saying 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe, all I can smell is mould'."

Those words were among the dozens of haunting stories shared at a community briefing about legal action for those who may have lost loved ones due to the mould infestation at Calvary Mater Hospital.

The meeting, held at Newcastle City Hall on Friday evening, was the first time the families involved in the upcoming class action had met.

About 120 people have expressed interest in the legal action, which will be litigated by XD Law and Bilbie Faraday Harrison.

XD Law principal Mark Davis said the stories all followed the same pattern and it was clear something was "profoundly wrong" at the hospital.

All were sick, but with years to live. All in the Mater cancer ward for routine treatment. All were taken suddenly, declining rapidly in a matter of days or hours. All with pneumonia or another respiratory-related illness listed on the death certificate.

Mr Davis said the two law firms were confident they could prove the mould in the air-conditioning vents of the hospital's cancer wards led to the early death of numerous patients.

"In the first instance, we thought it can't be that bad. So the first comments we made about it were very, very cautious," Mr Davis said.

"I'm very confident to turn those comments up to 10 now. Who the hell doesn't look in the air conditioning unit in a hospital cancer ward?"

One woman spoke of her daughter, who struggled to breathe when she was put into a private room and complained about the smell of mould.

"Her room had towels over the windows. I asked the nurse why and she said 'it's because of the mould'," she told the crowd.

"That night I left her at 7pm. A couple hours later, at 1.30am, I got a call that she suddenly passed away."

Mr Davis said everyone in the room had both a shared sense of grief and a shared sense of purpose - to seek justice.

"Not one person in the more than 100 I've spoken to has asked about money, that tells you everything about what these people are here for," Mr Davis said.

"I am the type of person to fight an injustice," a woman who lost her brother said.

One member of the audience said her family member was being treated at the Mater and died of rapid onset pneumonia.

Then two weeks later, while still grieving the sudden loss, they also developed pneumonia.

"We've had a lot of people contact us, nurses and clinical staff, expressing how they've all had different types of lung problems that seem to be rapid onset, despite no history of respiratory problems, and they can't kick it or it's quite severe," lawyer Ashley Harrison said.

The law firms are expected to formally lodge the class action soon, but are yet to reveal who the defendant will be.

Hunter New England Health (HNEH) and NSW Health have been suggested as defendants. The company managing the hospital's public-private partnership, Novacare, and the hard services subcontractor Honeywell, could also be in the crosshairs.

Honeywell has previously stated it was not in a position to comment on any potential legal action, while Novacare has refused to answer any questions about the Mater.

It was recently revealed Novacare was considering entering voluntary administration, after the state government rejected its offer to take over the Mater contract for $2.

When asked about the potential legal action, HNEH said it "will act as a model litigant and respond as required if we are notified or named in any action connected with this matter".

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