Patient safety put 'at risk' by crumbling NHS hospitals in desperate need of repair

Doctors have warned that patient safety is being put at risk by the state of crumbling NHS hospitals which have fallen into potentially dangerous disrepair, an ITV News investigation has found. 

Year-long leaks, collapsing floors, ageing roofs and potential for falling stone are among the issues exposed in the investigation - which have caused whole wards to be closed down. 

One doctor told ITV News conditions are so poor in hospitals she has worked in that “we are always just hoping that the next time something happens it does not cause something catastrophic.”Half of the 87 hospital trusts in England that responded to our Freedom of Information requests had at least one unresolved structural or maintenance issue, as of October 2022.

Footage shared with ITV News by staff working in NHS hospitals lays bare some of the appalling conditions doctors are forced to treat patients in every day.

Some leaks have been so severe they flood and close entire corridors, while some wards have become so unsafe they have been permanently shut.

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Source: ITV News, 22 February 2023