Last year, thousands of incidents were recorded in the National Health Service (NHS) due to disrepair in its buildings. Examples, obtained by the BBC through Freedom of Information Act requests, included critically-ill patients being moved because of rainfall inwards, sewage leaks, floods, and failing equipment. The government was urged to increase its capital spending on the NHS from £7.7bn to £14.1bn by health chiefs, who released a report detailing their priorities for the next government. According to NHS data, the care of at least 2,600 acute hospital patients was hampered because of estates and infrastructure failure.
Of the 210 hospital trusts that were contacted by the BBC concerning building incidents, 86 provided a response. Patients requiring dialysis were sent home because of water supply issues, green algae growth was discovered in a hydrotherapy pool, power was lost in an operating theatre, sewage flowed into a waiting area for ophthalmology, parts of a ceiling collapsed in a clinical area, and operating theatres experienced temperatures of 29C because of a malfunctioning air conditioning unit.
The Chief Analyst for public health thinktank The King’s Fund, Siva Anandaciva, claimed that the deteriorating condition of some NHS buildings should be treated as a cautionary tale for the government. Despite declarations to build and upgrade NHS hospitals, the data clearly suggests that some NHS facilities are not suitable for the task of delivering modern healthcare.
Many hospital leaders admitted that if it were not for ageing buildings, some pre-dating the existence of the NHS, they would be more able to maintain high-standard facilities. The national repair backlog for the NHS was £11.6bn, a 13.6% increase from the prior year, according to official data. Imperial College in London had the highest backlog of high-risk repairs in the 2022-23 fiscal year, at greater than £392m, according to NHS Providers
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