More than £10 million needed to repair crumbling buildings at Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust

Across England, a growing number of buildings are in a poor state, with the repair bill climbing to £11.6 billion last year.

NHS Providers, the body which represents NHS hospital, mental health, community and ambulance services, said the rate at which the bill is rising is "alarming", and urged the Government to provide much-needed investment in broken buildings.

The latest NHS Digital figures show £14.5 million is needed to restore buildings at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to certain standards as of March.

This work should have already taken place and covers everything from leaky gutters and faulty lifts to critical electrical and structural issues in hospital buildings. It does not include planned maintenance due to be undertaken.

Of this, £7.2 million is required to fix high-risk issues, which NHS reports say must be addressed with urgent priority to prevent catastrophic failure, major disruption to clinical services, or safety deficiencies liable to cause serious injury.

The most expensive site was Rampton Hospital, with £7.4 million needed to complete all the necessary repairs.

Nationally, the maintenance backlog rose by more 13 per cent last year, including £2.4 billion earmarked to eradicate the high-risk backlog.

Alison Wyld, executive director of Finance and Estates at Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust, said: “The safety and privacy and dignity of our patients is of the utmost importance, and works are undertaken annually aligned to available funding and all health and safety/statutory requirements are prioritised accordingly.

“These figures cover NHS Estate across England and not purely Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The figures are the potential estimated cost to bring the condition of the estate into a near perfect state.

“The Trust has many buildings within its use of varying age, and the condition of these are managed on a risk-based approach managed over several years.”

In October, the Department for Health and Social Care confirmed 42 sites have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) and must be repaired, but none of these were at Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust.

Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: "The cost of trying to patch up creaking buildings and out-of-date facilities is rocketing. Far too many NHS buildings and equipment are in a very bad way, and the situation is just getting worse.

"The safety of patients and staff is at stake. To provide first-class care, the NHS needs safe, efficient and reliable buildings, facilities and equipment."

Sir Julian said the presence of the collapse-risk concrete "is a symptom of a far bigger and long-running problem".

He said: "Many trusts – mental health, community, hospital and ambulance services – need major investment to refurbish ageing buildings and tackle risks to the safety of patients and staff.

"We need the Government to shift gear and inject a significant shot in the arm of capital investment in the NHS."

A DHSC spokesperson said: "We have invested significant sums to upgrade and modernise NHS buildings so staff have the facilities needed to provide world-class care for patients, including £4.2 billion this financial year.

"Trusts are responsible for prioritising this funding to maintain and refurbish their premises, including the renewal and replacement of equipment."