£34m to restore buildings at York and Scarborough hospitals

The latest NHS Digital figures show £34 million is needed to restore buildings at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to certain standards as of March.

This work should have already taken place and covers everything from leaky gutters and faulty lifts to critical electrical and structural issues in hospital buildings. It does not include planned maintenance due to be undertaken.

A spokesperson for the trust said it understands the areas of “greatest need” and invests “heavily” in an annual programme of works each year.

Of the £34 million figure, £10.9 million is required to fix high-risk issues, which NHS reports say must be addressed with urgent priority to prevent catastrophic failure, major disruption to clinical services, or safety deficiencies liable to cause serious injury.

Scarborough hospital is most expensive site to repair, figures show

The most expensive site was Scarborough hospital, with £14.7 million needed to complete all the necessary repairs.

As The Press reported last year, three operating theatres at Scarborough hospital were found to contain potentially unsafe reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

At the time a trust spokesperson said the operating theatres had been “assessed as safe” and that the RAAC would be removed “in due course via a systematic plan, one theatre at a time”.

Scarborough hospital (Image: Google)

Responding to the most recent NHS figures, a trust spokesperson said: “Every year the trust has the mammoth task of maintaining the estate buildings and infrastructure across our sites. 

“We have a large and varied estate, some of which is old and needs work to bring it up to a better standard to service patients’ needs. 

“We understand the areas of greatest need and every year, through our capital schemes, we invest heavily in an annual programme of works.

• Read next: RAAC discovered in three operating theatres at Scarborough Hospital

“We are continuing to mitigate the risk of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) identified at Scarborough Hospital with the support of specialist structural engineers, while the business case and designs to eradicate the RAAC are finalised. 

“Subject to business case approval and funding from the NHS England national RAAC programme, which we are a member of, we hope to start work to eradicate RAAC in the new financial year.”

Cost of repairing 'creaking' buildings is 'rocketing' - NHS boss

Nationally, the maintenance backlog rose by more 13 per cent last year, including £2.4 billion earmarked to eradicate the high-risk backlog.

Chief executive of NHS Providers Sir Julian Hartley said: "The cost of trying to patch up creaking buildings and out-of-date facilities is rocketing. Far too many NHS buildings and equipment are in a very bad way, and the situation is just getting worse.

"The safety of patients and staff is at stake. To provide first-class care, the NHS needs safe, efficient and reliable buildings, facilities and equipment."