Sewage leakage and delay in operation – Life in hospitals is waiting for reconstruction

Princess Alexandra Hospital in Essex is struggling with its old buildings and equipment problems in recent years.

Its site has regular difficulties of flooding and sewage leakage, which are of the 1960s.

There have been reports of patients slipping on water filled floors, stool odor in A&E and leakage in wards and operating theater areas, which threatened both patients and employees.

According to the official NHS data analyzed by Liberal Democrats, along with broken equipment and other building-related problems, it occurs an average of three times a week on the so-called “infrastructure” events.

During summer, two main operating theater closed, which disrupted the care of patients requiring hip and knee surgery.

“We were unable to get ventilation parts. We were unable to get light fittings,” the hospital’s chief operational officer Stephanie Laon told the BBC.

“It took us several weeks to repair those theaters. The infrastructure is now quite old – it is very difficult to maintain it.”

This should not have happened. In September 2019, the hospital was happy when a new hospital would replace the existing hospital at the Conservative Party Conference.

The owners of the hospital were soon predicting that the doors on the new site would open in 2024 as Boris Johnson in his 2019 election manifesto promised England 40 new hospitals including upgradation of existing sites.

But by 2023, the planned closing date of Princess Alexandra was slipped by 2030 – and this week it became It is being told that there will be further delay in reconstruction of one of the 18 hospitals In an announcement on Monday, which mainly slipped under the radar as the attention was focused on the opening of Donald Trump as the US President.

Construction work on Princess Alexandra will no longer start till 2032 as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the hospital has no choice but to hit hands and feet.

Ms. Loton says that the hospital is spending around £ 9 million per year on maintenance and repair of the current property.

She adds, “Employees come to work every day to give excellent care to our patients and work in a hospital that have become very old and bad, it is very disappointing for them.”

Both Torbe Hospital and Leeds General Information, one of the oldest hospitals in the 1920s, have reported sewage leakage and flood problems and both are in the same position.

Others are even further laid back, stated with a number that the work may be before the end of 2030.

Boss at St. Mary Hospital in London, which has been given a possible start date from 2035 to 2038, Warned that the possibility of closure of parts of the property due to the safety concerns of patients is “increasing day by day” Because electricity, heating and water supply could not be guaranteed.

“We are now providing care in some buildings that are more than 180 years old,” Chief Executive Professor Tim Orchard told BBC.

Meanwhile, Sam Higinson, Chief Executive of the Royal Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, says he is “deeply disappointed” that his northern Devon District Hospital may have to wait until 2038 for redevelopment.

He says, “It is far from the future for us.” “There is a limit that how long we can run that infrastructure and we are right on that border.”

He says that he will demand money from NHS England and the government to keep the operating theaters and A&E as much as possible, warning that otherwise the campaign to deal with the hospital’s waiting list may be affected.

The government has said that it is committed to projects. But, since they all will now go to the next Parliament and, in this way, there is no money to cover the cost yet, the real concern behind the curtain is whether the timetable can be followed. .

On the condition of anonymity, an NHS leader says, “He has pushed all of us into long grass.” “The commitment to do something in 10 years is almost fruitless.”

Matthew Taylor, head of NHS Confederation, who represents hospitals, says he understands such concerns, and says: “They feel disappointed.”

And he says that the government will have to pay attention to how many NHS leaders are compromising with their dilapidated property when it comes to assessing their performance in the coming years.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has strongly blamed Toryse and has accused them of leaving the “untreated and incredible” hospital construction program for him.

This has been disputed by Toris, who has accused the labor of breaking the promises and deciding not to give priority to the schemes.

Liberal Democrats believe that both parties will have to answer. Health and care spokesperson Helen Morgan says that the public was “taken on the way to the garden” by Tories, while he accused the labor of “dear and delay” and trying to bury the news that day with the affected people. Treat “complete disrespect” for. Inauguration of Trump.

But Shiva Anandasiva of the Kings Fund Health Think -Tank says that the problems are much deeper than these 18 delayed projects – and others who have already ended, have started, have started or approved in this decade.

He explains that the backlog has been increasing for years in repair and maintenance throughout NHS as the capital expenditure budget for buildings and equipment has been reduced.

He says, “The measure of NHS property collapsing is far wider than the reconstruction of the new hospital program.”

“Most of the mental health property is the oldest within NHS and it is estimated that one of the five GP complexes is before the time NHS was formed in 1948.”

They argue that this lack of investment is a “false economy” as it resulted in the patient’s care and NHS productivity hinders.

But only healthcare has not been affected. A report published by NAO this week It was reported that other parts of the public sector are also affected, school, court and jail buildings are also struggling with maintenance dues.

It appears that the princess Alexandra Hospital and other sites waiting for reconstruction are sewage leakage and equipment failures are only iceberg tip.

Data visualization by Hannah Carpel