‘NHS hospitals suffering leaking sewage, broken lifts and poor repair’

NHS hospitals are in such a poor state of repair that many have suffered collapsed ceilings, sewage leaking on to wards, and broken heating and lifts, an investigation has found.

A Freedom of Information request by the Labour Party to English hospitals found examples of patients having operations delayed, being made to move wards and one shower being shared between 19 people.

In total, 170 trusts responded to the request, with 76 of those citing clinical service incidents due to estates and infrastructure failures in 2018/19.

In one trust in Yorkshire and the Humber, faeces were coming through the floor in the ultrasound corridor and call bells were found to be broken on a ward, meaning patients would have struggled to ask for help.

One trust in the North West had a ceiling collapse on a side ward, water leaking on to a maternity landing, and a broken lift which trapped two nurses inside.

Another trust in the West Midlands had an incident in which a broken waste pipe led to waste leaking into the ward area.

Dirt and faeces came up through a sink at another West Midlands trust, soaking a patient’s bed and floor.

Meanwhile, part of an A&E department was closed at a London trust due to a “severe” sewage leak in December 2018.

In another London trust, water came through the ceiling on to a patient’s bed and several patients had to be moved.

An East Midlands trust saw sewage coming up through the drains in bathrooms, which led to water flooding into the ward corridor.

Only one shower room was then available for 19 patients.

Also in the East Midlands, water leaking from pipes led to operations being delayed or cancelled.

Other trusts told of lifts that were out of service, with one patient left on a clinical decisions unit in a wheelchair because they could not be taken to the coronary care unit for treatment.

Other patients have suffered missed X-rays and cancelled appointments, the data showed, while in the West Midlands a labour ward was very cold and babies could not be kept warm.

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “Years of Tory cuts are pushing hospitals to rack and ruin – from ceilings collapsing, sewage pipes bursting, to central heating faltering, patient safety and care put at risk.

“The NHS now faces a staggering £6 billion repair bill, £3 billion of which is considered ‘high’ or ‘significant’ risk.

“Patients deserve to be treated in the very best quality health facilities with the most up-to-date equipment, and yet the Tories have utterly failed to invest in the infrastructure capital budgets.

“Only Labour will give the NHS the funding it needs.”