Cambs hospital could be at risk’ of collapse due to dangerous concrete

A Cambridgeshire hospital has been named as one of seven prioritised by the government for urgent rebuilding work as it could fall down. Seven hospitals have been identified as being built using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which has been likened to a chocolate aero bar.

Hitchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon^[1] could potentially be impacted by the discovery as it has been named as one of seven requiring work. It comes after many schools across the country have had to shut fully or partially or delay the start of term due to the dangerous concrete.

The government has said 24 NHS^[2] buildings contain RAAC planks – while the National Audit Office (NAO) has put the number of hospitals with the material present at 41. The six joining Hitchinbrooke, having been earmarked for high-priority work to make them safe, are:

• Airedale in West Yorkshire

• Queen Elizabeth King’s Lynn in Norfolk

• Mid Cheshire Leighton in Cheshire

• Frimley Park in Surrey

• West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds

• James Paget Hospital in Norfolk.

A NAO report explains: “Since the late 1990s it has become increasingly apparent that the material can become structurally unsound.” The government has pledged to remove RAAC from the NHS estate by 2035, and has allocated £685 million to mitigate safety risks in the buildings over the next few years.

The rebuilding of these hospitals has been prioritised as part of the government’s ambition to build 40 new hospitals by 2030. The report says, as a result of this prioritisation, eight hospitals that were originally due to be constructed towards the end of the decade will now be completed after the deadline.

A RAAC beam that collapsed over the summer prompted the government to warn that school buildings known to contain this concrete will have to close or be made safe. The West Suffolk^[4] Hospital has also been forced to install 27 metal supports under RAAC planks to make it safe.

RAAC is the material that will keep some children out of school after the summer holidays, after the government told more than 100 schools and colleges to partially or fully close just days before the new term was set to begin. All the schools in Cambridgeshire^[5] are expected to open as usual^[6], however.

Hitchingbrooke Hospital at Hinchingbrooke Park, Huntingdon^[7] opened in 1983. It has 330 beds, a maternity unit and a children’s inpatient unit.

References

1. ^{^} Huntingdon (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
2. ^{^} NHS (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Police tell Cambs parents to ‘take responsibility for parking’ as schools return (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Suffolk (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Cambridgeshire (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
6. ^{^} expected to open as usual (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
7. ^{^} Huntingdon (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)