Summary
What is the impact of the poor condition of equipment and buildings? In September, the Chief Financial Officer of NHS England, Julian Kelly, told the Public Accounts Committee that every day ‘hospitals are having to shut units and decant patients into other spaces’. St Peter’s Hospital in Essex, a former Victorian workhouse, has had to relocate some inpatient services to other hospitals this winter amid issues with a leaking roof, weak flooring and broken lifts. And Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn has more steel props to stop RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) collapsing in its buildings than it does hospital beds. Underinvestment impacts the delivery of care, causing disruption for patients, and adding to the burden on staff who have to negotiate working in dilapidated buildings on top of their workload.
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