Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Infrastructure / building / equipment'.
-
News Article
Hackers took down high-secure hospital’s security system
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A cyber attack disabled alarm systems used by staff at a high-security psychiatric hospital, HSJ can reveal. West London Trust, which runs Broadmoor hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, is still trying to fix the system after an attack which it says took place in January. The facility was forced to use extra alarms, radios and staff “in order to respond to incidents in a timely fashion”, a trust board report from April said. High-secure hospitals are used for patients who have been detained under mental health legislation or present an immediate risk of harm to others, and have the same security arrangements as category B prisons. Staff have access to alarms for their safety and that of their patients. In a board report last week, West London Trust said clinical and operational services continued to operate with “minimal” disruption to patients. It said the organisation’s “cyber posture” would be enhanced to “limit the impact of future incidents”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 19 June 2025 -
News Article
"We've got two," explains Emer Szczygiel, emergency department head of nursing at King George Hospital, as she walks inside a pastel coloured room. On one wall, there's floral wallpaper. It is scored through with a graffiti scrawl. The words must have been scratched out with fingernails. There are no other implements in here. Patients being held in this secure room would have been searched to make sure they are not carrying anything they can use to harm themselves - or others. "So this is one of two rooms that when we were undergoing our works, we recognised, about three years ago, mental health was causing us more of an issue, so we've had two rooms purpose built," Emer says. "They're as compliant as we can get them with a mental health room - they're ligature light, as opposed to ligature free. They're under 24-hour CCTV surveillance." There are two doors, both heavily reinforced. One can be used by staff to make an emergency escape if they are under any threat. What is unusual about these rooms is that they are built right inside a busy accident and emergency department. The doors are just feet away from a nurse's station, where medical staff are trying to deal with acute ED (emergency department) attendances. On a fairly quiet Wednesday morning, the ED team is already managing five mental health patients. One, a diminutive South Asian woman, is screaming hysterically. She is clearly very agitated and becoming more distressed by the minute. Despite her size, she is surrounded by at least five security guards. She has been here for 12 hours and wants to leave, but can't as she's being held under the Mental Capacity Act. Her frustration boils over as she pushes against the chests of the security guards who encircle her. "We see about 150 to 200 patients a day through this emergency department, but we're getting on average about 15 to 20 mental health presentations to the department," Emer explains. "Some of these patients can be really difficult to manage and really complex." "If a patient's in crisis and wants to harm themselves, there's lots of things in this area that you can harm yourself with," the nurse adds. "It's trying to balance that risk and make sure every emergency department in the country is deemed a place of safety. But there is a lot of risk that comes with emergency departments, because they're not purposeful for mental health patients." Read full story Source: Sky News, 4 June 2025- Posted
-
- Mental health
- Emergency medicine
- (and 4 more)
-
News Article
NHS gets £750m boost to fix crumbling buildings
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The government has allocated £750 million to the NHS in England for tackling long-term maintenance problems. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the money could be used by hospitals, mental health units, and ambulance services to mend leaky pipes, improve ventilation, and solve electrical issues. The investment aims to prevent operations and appointments being cancelled because of crumbling infrastructure. However, healthcare leaders said the cash injection is a “drop in the ocean” and just a fraction of the estimated £14 billion maintenance backlog across the health service estate. More than £100 million will be put aside for maternity units to replace outdated ventilation systems in neonatal intensive care units and create better environmental conditions for vulnerable babies and their families. Hospital services were disrupted more than 4000 times in 2023-2024 due to poor quality buildings, according to England’s Health Secretary Wes Streeting. Streeting highlighted the severity of the problem, noting that burst pipes had flooded emergency departments, faulty electrical systems had shut down operating theatres, and mothers had been forced to give birth in substandard facilities. A recent UNISON survey revealed NHS hospitals were plagued by rats, cockroaches, and sewage leaks. The survey also flagged problems with leaky roofs and out-of-order toilets. Simon Corben, director for NHS estates and facilities at NHS England, said repairs were overdue. “Fixing the backlog of maintenance at NHS hospitals will help prevent cancellations,” he stated. Read full story Source: Medscape UK, 30 May 2025- Posted
-
- Infrastructure / building / equipment
- Funding
- (and 1 more)
-
News Article
Staff locked in hospital during ‘unprecedented’ power cut
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Staff were effectively “locked in” a hospital at night during a power cut that led to a major incident being declared last year, HSJ can reveal. Details have emerged about the power failure and “unprecedented” disruption at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth following a Freedom of Information request made by HSJ. The loss of power, which occurred between midnight and 2am, resulted in a failure of secure door access systems with some reported incidents “where staff were potentially locked in”. Staff interviewed as part of a debrief after the major incident in August said this was a “serious risk” and raised concerns about why the doors defaulted to locked during the power cut. The trust claims there were manual overrides in place but staff did not know about them. A spokesperson for Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust said a “series of recommendations for improvement” made after the incident have since “been completed or have full plans in place for delivery”. They said: “To ensure patient and staff safety, we have security measures in place on some of our doors to reduce the risk of unauthorised access to clinical and secure areas. These doors have manual overrides in place which are checked by our estates team working with our contractors on an ongoing basis. “During this incident, general awareness of the manual override systems on our doors was raised, so we continue working with teams to ensure all staff are familiar with our plans and how to access areas during an incident.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 May 2025 -
News Article
Plan to modernise 1,000 GP practice buildings
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Funding is being given to around one in six GP practices in England to help them improve their buildings, the government says. Around £102m is being provided to expand and modernise surgeries, with work getting under way this summer. The government said it was the biggest public investment in facilities for five years. It comes as satisfaction levels with GP service have hit record-low levels and figures suggest two in five GPs are reporting their practices are not fit for purpose. Health Secretary Wes Streeting called it a "significant step", but warned it would not solve all existing problems overnight. Under the plan, some of the projects will involve converting office space into clinical consulting rooms as well as building new practices. Mr Streeting said: "These are simple fixes for our GP surgeries, but for too long they were left to ruin, allowing waiting lists to build and stopping doctors treating more patients." Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 May 2025- Posted
-
- Infrastructure / building / equipment
- Funding
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
News Article
CEO: Staff suffering ‘moral injury’ from poor estates
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Staff are suffering “moral injury” as deteriorating estates disrupt their ability to provide care, a chief executive whose hospital rebuild has been delayed has warned. Thom Lafferty said Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust needed around £120m to fix its basic infrastructure – far outstripping normal capital allocations. The CEO, who joined in November, said: “Our staff cannot provide the level of care that they wish to because of the deteriorating estate which causes moral injury.” He said: “If something is mission critical safety, then we would have access to other resources to fix it. What we don’t have is the ability to guard against that level of operational disruption, which ends up providing a poor service for our patients and also causes moral injury to staff.” Moral injury is persistent psychological distress from acting against your ethical code, according to NHS Confederation. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 24 March 2025 -
News Article
Worst trusts for food, cleanliness and privacy revealed
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The best and worst trusts for food, cleanliness and privacy – as judged by patients and staff – have been revealed. Whittington Health Trust has been named among the worst five acute trusts on all the above measures, in the latest national assessment of care environments. Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust was the only mental health trust in the bottom five on all these counts. NHS England published the results of a patient-led assessment of the care environment (PLACE) last month. A team of patients and staff judged the scores on non-clinical aspects of the trust environment. A Whittington Health spokesman said it had a wide-ranging plan for improvements, including refurbishments and enhanced catering. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 6 March 2025- Posted
-
- Organisational Performance
- Health and safety
- (and 3 more)
-
Content Article
This publication providers the results from the 2024 Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) Programme. PLACE assessments are an annual appraisal of the non-clinical aspects of NHS and independent/private healthcare settings, undertaken by teams made up of staff and members of the public (known as patient assessors). The team must include a minimum of 2 patient assessors, making up at least 50 per cent of the group. PLACE assessments provide a framework for assessing quality against common guidelines and standards in order to quantify the facility’s cleanliness, food and hydration provision, the extent to which the provision of care with privacy and dignity is supported, and whether the premises are equipped to meet the needs of people with dementia or with a disability.- Posted
-
- Food
- Health and safety
- (and 5 more)
-
News Article
NHS England has launched a £37bn framework for the largest hospital-building drive in decades, in a bid to bolster market capacity. It is hoped this will address concerns over a lack of construction market capacity that has been considered a potential threat to the programme. The agreement is for major capital works in the New Hospital Programme, which has faced significant delays since being set up to deliver 40 projects by 2030. The government claimed the original Conservative plan was unrealistic and further shifted timelines last month – with nearly half now starting construction after that date. NHSE said the Hospital 2.0 framework agreement would cover hospital building, refurbishment and ancillary works – including design – for schemes. The contract notice said: “NHSE is seeking expressions of interest from suppliers with suitable major project experience, capacity and the capability to deliver complex hospital build and refurbishment construction works.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 February 2025 -
Content Article
Leapfrog content to raise awareness of the risks associated with waterborne pathogens. Waterborne diseases account for 118,000 hospitalisations each year in the United States and adds burdens to both patients and hospitals. Learn more about why creating a culture of prevention is important.- Posted
-
- USA
- Healthcare associated infection
- (and 3 more)
-
News Article
Sewage leaks and ops delayed - life at hospitals awaiting rebuild
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Essex has been plagued by problems with its ageing buildings and equipment in recent years. It has regular difficulties with floods and sewage leaks across its site, which dates back to the 1960s. There have been reports of patients slipping on flooded floors, foul smells of faeces filling A&E and leaks on wards and in the operating theatre areas, posing a risk to patients and staff alike. Along with broken equipment and other building-related problems, it leads to so-called "infrastructure" incidents occurring three times a week on average, according to official NHS data analysed by the Liberal Democrats. Over the summer, two of the main operating theatres were out of action, disrupting care for patients needing hip and knee surgery. "We were unable to get the ventilation parts. We were unable to get the light fittings," hospital chief operating officer Stephanie Lawton told the BBC. "It took us several weeks to get those theatres repaired. The infrastructure is quite old now - it's very difficult to maintain." Back in September 2019, there was delight at the hospital when it was announced at the Conservative party conference that a new hospital would replace the existing one. Hospital bosses were soon predicting the doors at the new site would open in 2024 as Boris Johnson promised England 40 new hospitals, including upgrades of existing sites, in his 2019 election manifesto. But by 2023 the planned finish date for Princess Alexandra had slipped to 2030 - and this week it became one of 18 hospitals to be told there rebuilds would be delayed even further. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 January 2025- Posted
-
- Infrastructure / building / equipment
- Funding
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Content Article
Following the 2024 General Election, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Chancellor set out to undertake a review of the New Hospital Programme to provide a realistic and affordable timetable for delivery. The DHSC and HM Treasury have agreed a high-level plan for the programme, which has the flexibility to plan on the basis of a total spend of £15 billion in each five-year Spending Review period. The plan for implementation details the waves of delivery for the programme and summarises the findings of the review. -
News Article
High-risk hospitals delayed despite government assurances
Mark Hughes posted a news article in News
At least two trusts whose hospitals rely on high-risk concrete will not open replacements until after 2030, despite theoretically being prioritised by government. The government previously said replacement of the seven “RAAC” or reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete hospitals would “proceed at pace due to the substantive safety risks” and “exempted” them from its review of the new hospitals programme. It comes after they were given new construction start dates in the New Hospital Programme. Read full article (paywalled). Source: HSJ, 23 January 2025 -
News Article
‘Devastating’ delays to new hospitals revealed
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Eighteen of the 40 ‘new hospital’ schemes which were originally due to open in 2030 will now not even start construction until then – with some potentially facing a wait of until 2039 to even get spades in the ground. NHS Providers said the announcement was a “major blow to trusts, their staff, patients, and communities, many of whom now face even longer delays getting desperately needed new hospitals”. Interim CEO Saffron Cordery added: “Trusts who are part of the new hospital programme account for more than 40 per cent (£5.7bn) of the total bill for backlog repairs and maintenance. Today’s announcement will make a difficult situation even more challenging. “While today’s announcement finally gives trusts some certainty and clarity over their long-awaited building projects, this is still a bitter pill to swallow.” Read full story Source: HSJ, 20 January 2025 -
News Article
Roof leaks and derelict buildings at hospitals with most empty space
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
More than 10,000 square metres of hospital space is being left vacant across some of England’s largest hospitals because of disrepair and decay. HSJ asked the 15 acute hospitals with the most empty space what areas were vacant and why. The analysis reveals for the first time why so much space is going unused in the worst-affected hospitals. Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust said entire floors of a wing were closed at Leeds General Infirmary because of a faulty roof. The site has the most vacant space of any nationally. The trust said the 9,500 square metres of unused space at Leeds General Infirmary — 5% of its footprint — included two floors of the Brotherton Wing that previously housed outpatient services. It said the integrity of the original roof had failed and led to water ingress, with the top floor shut for 10 years, and the one below closed more recently due to leaks. LTH’s other major hospital, St James’ University Hospital, has a further 3,200sqm vacant because it is “not suitable for modern healthcare”. Craige Richardson, director of estates and facilities, said the trust had closed some of its worst-impacted areas and relocated clinical services, but added this was “not sustainable”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 January 2025 -
News Article
Bed bugs blighted London’s hospitals more than 500 times over a 7-year period
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Nineteen NHS trusts across London said they had to call in pest control over 500 times to tackle bed bugs in the last seven years, costing some hospitals hundreds of pounds. The Royal London Children’s Hospital, which is run by Barts Health NHS Trust, as well as King’s College Hospital, which sits under the King’s College Hospital NHS Trust, were among the worst affected by the pests. The figures come despite the NHS’ own pest guidance warning, which says: ‘Pest activity can pose unacceptable risks to patients, staff and visitors, undermine reputation and public confidence, and damage the environment and food products. "Pest control and management is essential for safe and hygienic healthcare facilities." Sarah Spratt, a bed bug exterminator who worked at Bed Bug Limited for six years, told Metro: ‘Hospitals are a common area to find bed bugs. The big thing to understand is the higher the footfall in a building, the higher the chance of getting bed bugs. "It is nothing that the hospitals are doing wrong, it is just statistics. All it takes is one doctor or one patient to bring them in. "There is a lack of understanding and a lack of preparedness. Maybe staff could be better trained in spotting bed bugs, leading to earlier detection." Read full story Source: The Metro, 2 December 2024 -
News Article
Revealed: the ongoing impact of delays to ‘new hospital’ schemes
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Infrastructure failings have led to over 1,000 operations being cancelled in the past two years at just 14 trusts whose rebuilding plans have been placed under review by the new government, HSJ can reveal. Ceiling leaks, flooding, broken ventilation systems, pest infestations and many other issues have caused the disruption. HSJ has tracked cancelled operations caused by infrastructure incidents across trusts in the 40 "new hospitals" programme since 2019, the year the plan was first announced by former health secretary Matt Hancock. The programme has been plagued by delays and rising costs ever since. Many schemes remain in limbo five years on and are facing the threat of even more delays after Labour announced it was reviewing the programme and planned to come up with a new "realistic" delivery timetable. Health secretary Wes Streeting has promised to reveal the outcome “in the coming weeks”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 1 November 2024 -
Content Article
In 2016, Lord Carter’s report Operational productivity and performance in English NHS acute hospitals highlighted the potential to save £1.275 billion by enhancing estate efficiency across the NHS in England. This report looks at estate costs and performance in 2022/23 compared to those observed by Lord Carter in 2014/15. It is based on NHS trusts’ annual Estates Returns Information Collection (ERIC) submissions. Report highlights: Over the past 9 years, the cost of occupancy – the total expenses associated with occupying and operating buildings – across NHS secondary care has fallen by £0.24 billion, from £12.2 billion in 2014/15 to £11.9 billion in 2022/23 (in 2022/23 values). The number of patients using these facilities each year has increased by 13.8 million, from 123.9 million in 2014/15 to 137.7 million in 2022/23. The non-clinical occupied floor area has dropped from 44% to 33% of the total estate, below Lord Carter’s 35% target. With the integration of new technologies and modern working methods, trusts are aiming to further reduce non-clinical space to below 30%. The amount of floor area used for each patient attendance has decreased by 7% in the same period, contributing to the lower overall occupancy costs. Under-utilised occupied floor area has dropped to 1.9% from 4.4% in 2014/15. More than 1,850 energy efficiency schemes have been implemented since 2018/19. 81 new combined heat and power (CHP) units have been installed and 47% of the estate is now using LED lighting. Estates and facilities management teams have reduced the ongoing cost of their services by 17% (£2.24 billion or £16 per attendance). -
Content Article
The UK spends significantly less on capital, such as buildings and equipment, than most other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This may contribute to its poor performance on outcomes compared with similar countries. This Health Foundation report analyses trends in the capital budget, comparing the UK with international averages. Using annual data from all NHS trusts in England. It then focuses on trends in the capital spending of NHS trusts to analyse where money has been spent and where there are areas of need. It then analyses the implications of recent capital spending, with a specific focus on NHS trusts’ maintenance backlog. The report concludes with a discussion of the trends in capital spending and capital levels, and implications and recommendations for future health care funding. -
Content Article
The NHS in England has around 1,500 hospitals, where most emergency and elective care is carried out. The hospital estate contains many old buildings and its condition has been deteriorating. In response, in 2020, the government announced the New Hospital Programme (NHP) and committed to build 40 new hospitals by 2030. This report shows the key findings and progress made. Responding to the National Audit Office (NAO) report on the New Hospitals Programme, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation said: “Members will be concerned by the delays to many parts of the New Hospitals Programme, as this report from the National Audit Office reveals. Especially as some trusts are having to find additional money to tackle ongoing maintenance issues such as new roofs, when they were led to believe they would be moving to a new site or given funds to build something new as part of this programme. This is adding more pressure on finance departments whose budgets are already stretched to the limit. “Our members tell us that the maintenance backlog continues to be a significant challenge, impacting productivity and their ability to deliver the transformation required, hindering their progress in reducing the elective backlog and rendering some areas as unusable." -
Content Article
This year marks the NHS's 75th anniversary, and is an important moment to look back at where the service has come from, consider where it stands today and to look forward to how it needs to change to meet future needs. This report from the NHS Assembly draws on the feedback of thousands of people who have contributed to a rapid process of engagement with patients, staff and partners. It aims to help the NHS, nationally and locally, plan how to respond to long term opportunities and challenges. It sets out what is most valuable about the NHS, what most needs to change, and what is needed for the NHS to continue fulfilling its fundamental mission in a new context. The report identifies three key 'shifts' that will help the NHS adapt to the current needs of the population: Preventing ill health. Shifting funding to evidence-based measures to prevent and manage coronary heart disease and other causes of poor health, such as smoking and obesity. Working far more effectively with others to reach those at greatest risk and using NHS insights to advocate for effective action in tackling the wider determinants of health. Personalisation and participation. Ensuring people have control in planning their own care, supported by a continuity of relationship with clinical teams and an NHS accountability framework giving greater priority to patients’ experience and voice, particularly those who have been marginalised historically. Co-ordinated care, closer to home. Accelerating plans to strengthen general practice, wider primary care and community services in every neighbourhood. Universalising much better care for those with complex needs and frailty based on community teams and hospital at home services, supported by outreach from hospitals.- Posted
-
- Workforce management
- Integrated Care System (ICS)
- (and 6 more)
-
Content Article
This report explores why capital investment is key to boosting productivity and transforming long-term care. Key points It is a worldwide experience that as society ages, becomes wealthier and adopts less healthy lifestyles, healthcare becomes more expensive. The UK is no exception. Providing staff with the right tools and space to perform their jobs through capital investment is how to become more productive and to use the resources available most efficiently. However, the UK has invested less in health capital over several decades when compared with comparable nations. The result is a less productive service hampered by, among many other things, Victorian estates, too few diagnostic machines and outdated IT systems that cannot communicate across between hospitals. As the examples in this report demonstrate, NHS leaders across the country continue to invest in novel ways to make the service more productive and have more ideas should the government commit funding. Capital is the number one issue NHS leaders tell us is holding back their progress. To better understand this, we have asked ICS leaders how much they need to meet the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan’s ambitious productivity targets. NHS leaders are calling on all political parties to commit to a £6.4 billion annual capital funding increase for the NHS at next year’s three-year Spending Review. As we enter a general election year, there has never been a more urgent time to set out an ambitious plan to put the NHS on a path to financial sustainability. NHS leaders are committed to working closely with the new government to ensure this money is used as swiftly and effectively as possible.- Posted
-
- Funding
- Organisation / service factors
- (and 1 more)
-
Content Article
Patient-led assessments of the care environment (PLACE)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Environmental
PLACE assessments will provide motivation for improvement by providing a clear message, directly from patients, about how the environment or services might be enhanced. The 2023 programme is planned for launch in early September 2023. Good environments matter. Every NHS patient should be cared for with compassion and dignity in a clean, safe environment. Where standards fall short, they should be able to draw it to the attention of managers and hold the service to account. PLACE assessments will provide motivation for improvement by providing a clear message, directly from patients, about how the environment or services might be enhanced. The assessments involve local people (known as patient assessors) going into hospitals as part of teams to assess how the environment supports the provision of clinical care, assessing such things as privacy and dignity, food, cleanliness and general building maintenance and, more recently, the extent to which the environment is able to support the care of those with dementia or with a disability. Recruitment and training of patient assessors is the responsibility of those organisations undertaking assessments. The assessments take place every year, and results are published to help drive improvements in the care environment. The results show how hospitals are performing both nationally and in relation to other hospitals providing similar services.- Posted
-
1
-
- Assessment
- Organisation / service factors
- (and 5 more)
-
News Article
NHS board named in Glasgow hospital corporate homicide probe
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Scotland's largest health board has been named as a suspect in a corporate homicide investigation following the deaths of four patients at a Glasgow hospital campus. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) informed families of the development via a closed Facebook group set up during a water contamination crisis. The board confirmed it had received an update from the Crown Office. But it added there was no indication prosecutors had "formed a final view". Police Scotland launched a criminal investigation in 2021 into a number of deaths at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus, including that of 10-year-old Milly Main. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) instructed officers to investigate the deaths of Milly, two other children and 73-year-old Gail Armstrong. Milly's mother previously told a separate public inquiry into the building of several Scottish hospitals that her child's death was "murder". A review earlier found an infection which contributed to Milly's death was probably caused by the QEUH environment. Read full story Source: BBC News, 13 November 2023- Posted
-
- Scotland
- Investigation
- (and 4 more)
-
News Article
Hospital management criticised over helipad death
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A trust failed to identify risks associated with a helipad in one of its car parks, contributing to the death of an elderly woman who was blown over as a heavy search and rescue helicopter came into land. The Air Accident Investigations Branch found multiple factors contributed to 87-year-old Jean Langan’s death at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth in March 2022. Ms Langan was on her way to an appointment when she was blown over and another person seriously injured. Crispin Orr, chief inspector of air accidents, said: “Our in-depth investigation revealed systemic safety issues around the design and operation of hospital helicopter landing sites which need to be addressed at a national level.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 2 November 2023