34 Hospital Building Roofs at Risk of Collapse

THE ROOFS OF 34 hospital buildings are likely to fail, a government health minister has disclosed.

Health minister, Maria Caulfield divulged the hospital roof dangers in answer to a parliamentary question asked by the Liberal Democrats’ health spokesperson, Daisy Cooper.

She revealed that NHS building surveys uncovered 34 buildings at 16 health trusts with the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

RAAC Panels Failing

RAAC was used in NHS construction between the 1960s and 1980s. A form of aerated silica, the lightweight, ‘bubbly’ concrete was used to form structural panels. The panels are reinforced with embedded metal bars bonded to the concrete, and it is the bond which is liable to fail after the panels’ 30-year lifespan comes to an end.

Now, numerous surveys have found that the RAAC panels are failing, meaning that the roofs constructed from the material are at risk of failing, leading to structural collapse.

“It’s simply unthinkable that patients are being treated in buildings that could be at risk of collapse,” Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader told the Guardian.

The Guardian reported last year of the potential risk of hospital roof collapses and how Hinchingbrooke hospital was restricting patients being treated in a surgical theatre according to their weight in order to limit the pressure on RAAC panels.

Heightened Risk 

The Patient Safety Learning Hub charity reported earlier this month that emergency evacuation and shelter rehearsals are being advised by NHS England’s Director of Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR), Stephen Groves, in response to the risks uncovered by RAAC panels.

Groves wrote to NHS Trusts, saying: “Following recent work driven by the heightened risk associated with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), the 2022-23 EPRR annual deep dive will focus on local evacuation and shelter arrangements.”

Maria Caulfield said that affected trusts have employed structural surveyors to assess the condition of the material and an allocation of £110 million has been provided to “mitigate the immediate risk”.

RAAC Affected Buildings

In July, the BBC reported that the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk has 1,500 props keeping the roof up, some of which are in the hospital’s wards where patients are being treated.

Others hospital affected are Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire, Airedale in West Yorkshire, Leighton in Cheshire, and Frimley Park in Surrey.

Maria Caulfield said that NHS Trusts affected will receive a further £575 million in the current Spending Review period.

At the last 2019 election, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised 40 new hospitals would be built during his term. Many commentators have pointed out that it may well be cheaper to replace hospitals than attempt repairs to RAAC affected buildings. In April this year plans were submitted by West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust for a new hospital in Bury St Edmunds “due to the poor condition of the existing hospital”.

SOS NHS says West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust is so concerned over the threat of RACC that it has hired a law firm to assess the risk of being charged with corporate manslaughter should any hospital collapse and kill patients, staff, or visitors.

Many schools are also thought to be affected and the Department for Education issued guidance in 2021 for schools on identifying RAAC roof structures.

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