Two million patient admissions at NHS hospitals with crumbling roofs last year

Embargoed until 00.01 Monday 13th March 2023

• Lib Dems demand this week’s Budget includes emergency funding to fix dangerous hospital roofs

• 18 trusts have buildings fitted with roofs which NHS chiefs warn could collapse at any moment 

• Almost 6,000 patient admissions a day last year at hospital trusts with crumbling roofs 

There were a staggering two million patient admissions at hospitals with crumbling roofs at risk of collapse last year, new analysis by the Liberal Democrats has found.

The Liberal Democrats are demanding emergency funding in this week’s Budget to replace the crumbling roofs at every affected hospital and prevent patients’ safety being put at risk.

18 NHS hospital trusts around the country have buildings fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). This material is said to be ‘structurally weaker’, ‘lightweight’ and ‘cheaper’ than a regular fitting, with one NHS chief executive likening it to a “chocolate Aero bar” with bubbles that could break and collapse at any point. Concerns over the dangerous roof at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Cambridgeshire has led to patients over a certain weight being banned from two of its operating theatres in case they put too much strain on the floor.

New analysis of NHS figures, based on data compiled by the House of Commons Library, has found that there were over 2.1 million hospital admissions at these trusts in 2021/22. This is equivalent to almost 6,000 patient admissions a day at hospitals that have buildings with roofs at risk of collapse.

The Queen Elizabeth King’s Lynn Trust in Norfolk, which has four buildings with roofs at risk of collapse, admitted 70,000 patients last year. Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust and Frimley Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust admitted the most patients last year, despite both also having buildings with fragile roofs. 

The analysis also shows that carrying out all ”high risk” repairs at the 18 hospital trusts with crumbling roofs would cost £326m. These are repairs which are urgently needed to prevent catastrophic failure, major disruption to clinical services or safety issues that could cause serious injury. 

The total cost of carrying out “high risk” repairs across all 210 NHS hospital trusts would be £1.7 billion. However, under government plans the health capital spending budget is currently facing significant real-terms cuts, meaning repairs and new buildings face being delayed or cancelled.

Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

“It is a national scandal that millions of patients are being treated in hospital buildings with dangerous roofs at risk of collapse.

“This is a disaster waiting to happen with NHS staff warning that crumbling NHS buildings could have a potentially catastrophic impact and put patient safety at risk.

“Local communities are fed up with years of broken promises from this Conservative government. The Chancellor must invest in urgently fixing the country’s crumbling hospitals at this week’s Budget, instead of kicking the can down the road yet again.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor

Full data from the House of Commons Library broken down by trust is available here. 

A previous Freedom of Information Request by the Liberal Democrats found 18 NHS Trusts have hospital buildings fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). The FOI response from NHS England can be found here.

Sources:

Patients admitted to hospital by Trust: NHS Digital, Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity, 2021-22. 

‘High risk’ repair backlogs by Trust: NHS Digital, Estates Return Information Collection 2021/22

The NHS states that: “High risk is where repairs/replacement must be addressed with urgent priority in order to prevent catastrophic failure, major disruption to clinical services or deficiencies in safety liable to cause serious injury and/or prosecution.” (NHS Digital, Estates Returns Information Collection 2021/22, Data Definitions).