A red-bellied black snake found in a wall cavity near an operating theatre at John Hunter Hospital could have been preparing for its winter hibernation, a snake expert says.
A hospital staffer said the snake was found in a store room, where surgical supplies like sutures were kept.
A Hunter New England Health [HNEH] spokesperson confirmed the snake was found "within a wall cavity inside a storage area at the Royal Newcastle Centre earlier this month".
"The area was immediately isolated to ensure the safety of staff and patients," the spokesperson said.
"As a precaution, a nearby operating theatre was temporarily paused for a short time while a licensed snake handler safely removed the animal.
"Access to theatre supplies was unaffected and clinical staff continued to manage and retrieve items as usual."
HNEH said it was "looking into how the snake may have accessed the area".
One hospital staffer said the snake had been sighted for three days before it was caught.
Another staffer said "the snake catcher had several attempts and eventually had to cut out part of a wall in a storage area".
"No one knew how it got in, but maybe it came up through a drain," the staffer said.
To lighten the mood around the situation, one staffer hung a snake bite kit on a noticeboard.
Lockie King, of Lake Mac Snake Men, said he was often called to remove snakes from hospitals.
While he didn't do the John Hunter job in question, he said "red bellies are the most common venomous snake species in Lake Macquarie, Newcastle and Central Coast".
"They're starting to slow down now, have their last few feeds and look for somewhere to hunker down for winter," Mr King said.
"They sleep for most of winter when they brumate. They'll still bask in the sun and drink. They'll have a feed if they want to, but they are a lot less active."
Mr King said the snake at the hospital may have been "trying to find somewhere warm to hide and seek shelter from predators, or possibly going in there to find food".
"Obviously you get rodents or even lizards going through wall cavities. Snakes will go in there to find them," he said.
The John Hunter snake incident follows concerns about the condition of buildings and maintenance in hospitals.
A John Hunter staffer said "an ideal situation would be if we could close sections of the hospital for a thorough clean once the new building opens, which I think is the plan".
The hospital's new $835 million seven-storey acute services building will open sometime this year.
"The John Hunter is a bit dusty in the vents, with a few cockroaches here and there," the staffer said.
"It's never able to have a proper clean because it's always filled with patients."
Pest issues have been exposed at the Calvary Mater during a recent parliamentary inquiry into that hospital's mould and maintenance scandal.
This included a maggot infestation, which occurred after "an open skip bin was inappropriately used to dispose of clinical waste", an internal health document shows.
"The bags unfortunately tore open, prompting a fly infestation which then spread into the roof cavity of the ward," the document said.
The Mater also had reports of rats in its ceiling and an "absence of adequate vermin proofing" in water storage tanks.
