Freedom of Information Requests to NHS Trusts has revealed in the past twelve months there has been a staggering 456 sewage leaks in England’s hospitals. 55 NHS Trusts provided responses which reveal the shocking state of the country’s hospitals.
The worst trust was Leeds Teaching Hospital reported 105 sewage leaks and North Tees & Hartlepool Hospitals 80 leaks.
"This is a national scandal. Our country’s hospitals are falling apart after years of underinvestment and neglect. Patients should not be treated in these conditions and heroic nurses should not have the indignity of mopping up foul sewage" said Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey.
Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire, which has a roof which may collapse at any moment and cannot treat patients over a certain weight in some wards as a result, also registered sewage leaks amid speculation the hospital is not up to standard.
These shocking new reports follow an investigation by the Liberal Democrats which found just one in four of the new hospitals promised by the Government have planning permission. Senior NHS officials are now warning the hospitals will not be built by the 2030 deadline, or worst still, not built at all.
“This Conservative Government has taken local communities for granted by yet again breaking a manifesto promise" said Ed Davey.
We urgently need to implement our plan to fix our crumbling NHS hospitals. Without it, more patients will suffer unnecessarily at the hands of this Conservative government’s neglect of our health service.
A Freedom of Information investigation by the Liberal Democrats has found hospitals with chemicals leaking in patient areas and others with multiple broken fire alarms.