The cost of repairing crumbling NHS buildings in England has risen to almost £14 billion, prompting warnings that patients and staff are at risk from falling roofs and faulty equipment.
The repair costs faced by health services to make their estate fit for purpose have more than tripled from £4.5 billion in 2012-13 to £13.8 billion last year, according to US State Department figures Business. NHS England data.
The latest bill means that for the first time since records began, it would cost the NHS more to clear its maintenance backlog than the £13.6 billion it spends on running its entire estate.
The figures show that the health care infrastructure fell into a state of serious disrepair as it was “starved” of capital funding while the Conservatives were in power, NHS officials said.
“Essential parts of the NHS are literally falling apart after years of underinvestment at national level. The safety of patients and staff is at risk,” said Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers.
“The list of essential repairs still needing to be done across the NHS is growing and costs are skyrocketing. Eye-watering sums are needed to refurbish buildings and equipment that are in very poor condition in hospitals, mental health, community health and ambulance services.”
NHS England has classified £2.7 billion of these repairs as ‘high risk’ – up from £2.4 billion a year earlier – because they pose an ongoing danger to people receiving treatment, working in or visiting hospitals and clinics. These urgent tasks are work needed to prevent NHS healthcare providers from experiencing catastrophic failure, major disruption to clinical services or serious harm or prosecution.
Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said the £13.8 billion bill was “deeply worrying” and was a result of the NHS being “without capital funding for more than a decade”.
Johnbosco Nwogbo, from the campaign group We Own It, said incidents such as “sewage leaks in NHS operating theatres, rodent infestations in NHS hospitals, outdated computer systems (and) a faulty lift that injured an NHS doctor” illustrated the problems which can arise when capital expenditure is under pressure.
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is under pressure to increase NHS capital spending next year in the budget she will present on October 30. The agency needs an additional £6.4 billion each over the next three years to keep the buildings functioning properly. NHS Confederation has made an estimate.
Failing buildings and equipment led to clinical services being canceled or interrupted 3,318 times last year – 63 times a week. The NHS lost almost 14,600 hours of clinical time (worth around £7.2 million) due to maintenance failures – and that figure only includes the three most disruptive incidents in each hospital – according to NHS England data.
Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport lost 2,918 hours of clinical time (worth around £581,000) due to recurring structural problems – the most of any hospital site. It was followed by equipment failures at Darent Valley Hospital (1,920 hours) and roof problems at Wigan’s Royal Albert Edward Hospital and Shepton Mallet Community Hospital (1,000 clinical hours each).
Imperial College Healthcare’s NHS Trust in London had the largest total repair bill at £874 million, mainly related to St Mary’s hospital, almost half of which was considered high risk.
Meanwhile, the chairman of NHS England, Richard Meddings, has done just that announced that – after discussions with Health Secretary Wes Streeting – he will resign in March next year, a year earlier than planned. The Guardian reported in July that Labor planned to oust Meddings and replace him with a Labor loyalist if they won power.