Glasgow hospital has same insulation as found in tower blaze

0 NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde insisted that the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital is safe Insulation panels found in the Grenfell Tower disaster were also used in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, it has emerged.

However, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said it had been assured by the builder they had been fitted correctly and were safe.

Manufacturer Kingspan said its Kooltherm K15 Rainscreen board comprised less than 5 per cent of the insulation in Grenfell’s cladding.

It is also thought they were combinedwithdifferentmaterials in the London block’s cladding than at the 14-storey Glasgow hospital, which might have affected fire safety.

Kingspan said the panels had been used at Grenfell without its knowledge, and it would “never recommend” them being combined with the Celtex RS5000 insulation panels also found on the tower block.

At least 80 people are thought to have died when the 24-storey block was engulfed by flames nearly a month ago.

The Kooltherm panels have a high resistance to stopping the spread of fire, but are still classified as combustible.

NHSGGC said it had no plans to remove the insulation and said the hospital was “one of the safest buildings in the UK in terms of fire engineering”.

A spokesman said: “Multiplex, the main contractor for the hospital construction, has assured NHSGGC the Kingspan Kooltherm K15 insulation boards were properly installed to meet Scotland’s stringent building and fire safety regulations.

“The hospital is designed and equipped to the highest standards for fire safety.

“It has heat/smoke detection and early warning fire alarm systems combined with automatic fire suppression sprinkler systems fitted in all areas.”

A Kingspan spokesman said: “To the best of our knowledge, the vast majority of the insulation used for the façade refurbishment [at Grenfell] was PIR [polyisocyanurate] that had no connection with Kingspan.

“However, subsequent to the tragedy we became aware a very small quantity of Kingspan Kooltherm K15 (less than 5 per cent of the estimated total amount of insulation used on the tower facade) was sourced and supplied to contractors in the refurbishment.

“Kingspan is very confident that, properly installed and specified, our products deliver safe, reliable and energy efficient insulation solutions.

“Our research, using largescale fire tests on ventilated rainscreen systems, shows systems containing Kooltherm K15 can display similar fire performance to systems containing mineral fibreproductsthataredeemed non-combustible.”