Flammable cladding on city hospital
Extra safety measures put in place More tests still to be carried out
Extra safety measures are being put in place at a hospital after combustible cladding was found on the exterior.
The material was discovered at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh during checks following the Grenfell Tower fire in London in June which claimed at least 80 lives.
NHS Lothian said it is introducing further safety measures while further tests are carried out.
Cladding on a Scottish hospital contains “combustible material” similar to that of Grenfell Tower, tests have found.
NHS Lothian has found that the cladding used on the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh contains flammable material and safety measures have been put in place, including heightened security.
Fire chiefs believe the building is safe for all current services.
Health boss es commissioned the University of Edinburghto conduct test son three samples of cladding from the exterior of the hospital. The tests confirmed that the materials are combustible, but that the panels were fully compliant with building standards at the time of its construction.
NHS Lothian will now carry out a second phase of testing of the cladding, which should take about six weeks to process.
Chief executive Tim Davison said: “We take all matters surrounding fire safety very seriously and I would like to reassure patients, the public and our staff that the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh has a sophisticated fire prevention system.
“Our risk assessment and the additional measures we have put in place give us confidence that the hospital remains safe for our patients and staff. This confidence is endorsed by Scottish Fire & Rescue.”
Since June, NHS Lothian, in partnership with Consort, have undertaken precautions at the hospital. Risk assessments have been carried out at all in-patient and out-patient areas and intrusive surveys have taken place to confirm that appropriate fire breaks are in place in order to prevent fires from spreading.
All evacuation plans at the hospital and staff training programmes have been reviewed and health bosses have moved to ensure key staff training requirements are up to date.
Scottish Fire & Rescue has performed a full review on response times to the hospital which resulted in no alteration to the existing operating procedure. Fire risk management experts have also been appointed.
While the second stage of testing is carried out, access to the hospital’s façade will be controlled with the introduction of temporary fencing, external panels will be checked for damage and any visible damage will be tackled.
Security will be tightened in an attempt to prevent unauthorised people and vehicles from coming into contact with the cladding. The area will also be cleaned more regularly to ensure there is no debris or rubbish which could start a fire.
The results of the test will be shared with fire bosses, who have currently not expressed any desire to alter their service response.
Following the Grenfell disaster, when at least 80 people died, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in Scotland, called for all high-rise flats to be subject to thorough inspections.
In July, it was revealed that the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow was built with the same insulation material as Grenfell Tower. The insulation in Glasgow was found to be highly combustible.