Hospitals in England are hit more than 100 times a week by disruptions to patient care due to fires, leaks and problems caused by outdated buildings, NHS figures show.
There have been 27,545 ‘clinical service incidents’ in the past five years – an average of 106 per week – according to data collected by the House of Commons library.
They are incidents that the NHS says have been “caused by failures to estates and infrastructure associated with critical infrastructure risks” and are linked to the service’s huge maintenance backlog, the bill for which has risen to £11.6 billion. All incidents resulted in “clinical services being delayed, canceled or otherwise disrupted” for at least five patients for a minimum of 30 minutes.
That means the 27,545 incidents between 2018-19 and 2022-23 disrupted care for at least 137,725 patients, according to an analysis of NHS data by the Commons library commissioned by Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey.
“These findings are shocking but sadly not surprising, given the dilapidated and in some cases dangerous state of so many NHS facilities,” said Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents health service trusts.
The “unacceptable impact on patients” should prompt ministers to increase the NHS capital budget so trusts can urgently review their estates, she said.
She added that the poor state of many NHS facilities was not only disrupting care, but also putting patients at risk and reducing their chances of recovery from their illness. “There are many patients in hospital, mental health and community settings who have received care but whose recovery is hampered by a deteriorating environment that is neither safe nor therapeutic,” she said.
The Essex Partnership Mental Health Trust had the most incidents in the past five years – 1,230 – followed by the North East London Trust with 1,022.
More than 5,000 of the incidents took place at the 34 NHS trusts where ’40 new hospitals’ will be built, which Boris Johnson promised in 2019. Progress in delivering on that promise has been slow and caused great frustration among NHS bosses.
Of these 34 trusts, the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, had the most disruptions, with 1,049, followed by the University Hospitals of Nottingham trust with 818.
The Princess Alexandra has had at least 40 leaks of raw sewage in recent years, with the smell causing staff to feel nauseous and too ill to work.
“It is shocking that so many patients are seeing their care affected by the crumbling NHS infrastructure in the very areas that have been promised a new hospital by the Conservatives,” Davey said. “No patients or staff should be treated in hospital buildings with leaking roofs and floors that could collapse. This Conservative government has left our hospitals in a shameful state of disrepair, and patients and staff are paying the price.”
The repeated disruption at the ’40 new hospitals’ trusts shows that using capital funding to help pay the running costs of the NHS, as has been done over the past decade, had been short-sighted, said Thea Stein, the chief executive of the think tank Nuffield Trust and, until last year, the boss of mental health and community services in Leeds.
“That a significant number of safety incidents have affected the care patients receive at these sites, promised new hospital buildings or upgrades, is clear evidence of the urgent need to upgrade our aging NHS complex and the ill-considered raids on cash intended for buildings and buildings, to be undone. equipment to cover daily bills,” she said.
The Department of Health and Social Care did not immediately comment on the figures indicating widespread disruption.
A spokesperson said: “We have invested significant sums to upgrade and modernize NHS buildings to ensure staff have the facilities needed to provide world-class care to patients, including £4.2 billion this financial year. Trusts are responsible for prioritizing this funding for the maintenance and renovation of their buildings, including the renewal and replacement of equipment.”
The spokesperson said the “40 New Hospitals” program has already delivered four new hospitals, with another due to open soon and 17 more in the pipeline.