Exclusive: Structural weaknesses are threatening operating theatres, intensive care units and cancer units
Hospital buildings in England are in such a dilapidated state they risk fires, floods and electrical faults, internal NHS trust documents reveal, with leaders saying conditions have become “outright dangerous”.
Official papers from NHS trust board meetings show how staff and patients are being put at risk by an alarming array of hazards due to weaknesses in hospitals’ infrastructure.
The findings come as Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said parts of the health estate were so rundown “some patients are being treated in unsafe and sometimes outright dangerous facilities”.
Taylor pinned the blame on “decades of underinvestment” in the health service’s capital budget – used to repair and replace buildings and equipment – which meant the NHS received “woefully” less funding than comparable countries.
A Guardian analysis of hospital board papers found that Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport is in such a state of rapid decline that 13 different parts of it are classed as “at serious risk of imminent breakdown”. They include the pathology unit, mortuary, Bobby Moore cancer unit, chest clinic, data centre and electricity substation.
Minutes from the hospital’s board meeting in October also reveal that its intensive care unit is at “risk of service disruption from leaks from the plant room above”, that 15% more of the hospital poses a “significant risk” than did so in 2021 and that it is likely to face a growing number of lawsuits because its worsening disrepair will cause “increased health and safety incidents”.
