Hull hospitals facing issues amid £84m repairs backlog
SAFETY AND FUNCTIONALITY IS A TOP PRIORITY
OPERATING theatre temperatures of almost 30C, extensive water leaks and lifts breaking down were among the incidents recorded in Hull hospitals, which face a roughly £81m bill for backlogged repairs.
An MRI suite’s air conditioning failing and a fractured gas main leaving a building without heat were among the clinical service incidents recorded at Hull’s NHS trust in 2022-23.
A BBC investigation found they came as Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s total repair bill has gone up by 4.4 per cent to £84,252,695 in the last financial year.
A spokesperson for the trust, which runs Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital, said safety and functionality was a top priority and apologised to those affected by the incidents.
The BBC’S investigation of hospital trusts around the country found the care of at least 1,055 patients had been affected by infrastructure problems.
The incidents recorded by other trusts included premature twins who developed hypothermia in a cold ward, sewage leaks in eye care units and an operating theatre’s air conditioning units failing.
Parts of a ceiling collapsing and patients waiting for kidney dialysis being sent home because of ventilation issues were also among the clinical service incidents trusts recorded.
At the Hull Trust, three of the six incidents recorded in 2022-23 were temperature-related, though records did not specify which hospital they happened in.
The roof chiller, which operates the air conditioning of an MRI suite and operating theatres, were unable to cope with a heatwave and temperatures exceeded 26C.
In a separate incident, temperatures in an operating theatre peaked at 29.7C in a day and 28C on another.
Three out of four of the main patient lifts in one hospital were out of service, affecting movement to all areas.
An extensive water leak from a hospital’s plant room also affected the endoscopy department below.
The total bill for backlogged repairs was £68,049,341 at Hull Royal Infirmary and £16,203,354 at Castle Hill Hospital, which is up from £65,484,518 and £15,193,011 respectively compared to 2021-22.
Hull Royal Infirmary’s repair costs were down from a peak of £81,899,398 in 2019-20 and Castle Hill Hospitals have fallen from £21,000,184 in the same year.
The trust’s total bill for its high-risk backlog, repairs to prevent catastrophic failure or a major disruption to clinical services was £6,094,628, up 3.2 per cent in a year.
The figures were among the £9bn costs for outstanding repairs across England’s acute hospitals, £2bn of them for high-risk ones.
London’s Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust had the largest repairs backlog of £734,727,698 in 2022-23.
NHS Providers chief executive Julian Hartley said the costs of fixing hospitals were eye-watering.
“The chief executive said: “The cost of trying to patch up creaking buildings and out-of-date facilities is rocketing.
“Safety of patients and staff is at stake. More than half of the repairs backlog is of ‘high or significant risk.’”
The Hull trust’s spokesperson said that although their repair costs rose in 2022-23, the position was notably better than in 2019-20. The spokesperson said: “Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is part of a Group of hospitals which sees more than one million patients a year as outpatients.
“We admit 215,000 people to our wards and see 275,000 in our emergency departments.
“It is inevitable that occasionally equipment failures occur, and when this impacts on patient care we apologise to our patients and their families and any staff who might be affected.
“It is not uncommon for repair costs to fluctuate, and we consistently factor these into our capital expenditure planning.
“We are committed to managing these costs effectively to maintain high standards of care for our patients and staff.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said they had invested significant sums to upgrade and modernise hospital buildings.
The spokesperson said: “Trusts are responsible for prioritising this funding to maintain and refurbish their premises, including the renewal and replacement of equipment.
“This is on top of the expected investment of more than £20bn for the New Hospital Programme, a further £1.7bn for more than 70 hospital upgrades across England, and a range of nationally funded infrastructure improvements in mental health, urgent and emergency care and diagnostic capacity.”
We are committed to managing costs effectively to maintain high standards of care
Hull Trust spokesperson