Cladding on city hospitals to be reviewed after Grenfell

CLADDING is to be reviewed at two hospitals in Birmingham which could be a fire risk after the Grenfell tragedy, while the ciy council has vigorously defended a £31 million investment to roll out sprinklers in tower blocks.

Further assessments will be carried out on cladding fitted to the Ward Block 1 building at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield and the Hybrid Theatre at Heartlands Hospital. A report, outlining Birmingham City Council’s response to Grenfell Tower, is due to go to cabinet on Thursday (May 24) and states that Heart of England NHS Trust surveyed all buildings on their hospital sites.

It said: “The outcome of the sur- veys was that there are very few buildings, that fall under the responsibility of the trust, where cladding has been used in the buildings’ design, and of those buildings, only two, Ward Block 1 at Good Hope Hospital, which is a medium to high rise building, and the Hybrid Theatre at Heartlands Hospital, where patients may not necessarily be evacuated, would be considered of a slightly higher risk, and further assessments of the cladding on these buildings will be undertaken.”

The trust has been approached for further comment. During the same cabinet meeting the executive is due to launch a staunch defence of a proposed £31m investment to retrofit sprinklers to the city’s 213 tower blocks after the move was temporarily blocked last month.

The decision, which would have seen the installation of ‘suppressions systems’ to more than 10,000 flats over three years, was called in by former Labour councillor Barry Henley who claimed the tower blocks did not need them arguing the money would be better spent elsewhere.