Major hospital's outpatients, radiology department and critical care unit 'crumbling'

A UK hospital is in dire straits as its outpatients, radiology department and critical care unit are 'quite literally crumbling', the local MP has claimed.

Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester, has been hit by two ceiling collapses in recent weeks due to leaks in the heating system.

These incidents occurred within the radiology department and the critical care unit, where the most seriously ill patients are treated.

The situation became so severe that patients had to be evacuated and scans were cancelled after both ceilings gave way within a day in March, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Stockport's MP, Navendu Mishra, brought the issue to the attention of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a session of Prime Minister's Questions on May 8.

"Stepping Hill's major outpatients building, the radiology department and the critical care unit have all been condemned," Mr Mishra informed the Commons.

"In March, I met with senior officials at Stockport NHS Trust, they were very clear that a sustained lack of capital investment is the root cause of problems at my local hospital."

Mr Mishra challenged the Prime Minister in the House of Commons, questioning: "Mr Speaker, does the Prime Minister believe that our hospitals quite literally crumbling is the price worth paying for the 14 years of successive Conservative failure? "

The Prime Minister replied: "We fully recognise the need to invest in health infrastructure across the country, including at Stepping Hill Hospital.

"That is why we are currently spending around £4 billion a year for trusts to spend on necessary maintenance and repairs, on top of the £20 billion new hospital programme and the additional funding that was put aside to deal with RAAC - reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete - maintenance.

"The honourable gentleman talks about a legacy of the NHS; all he needs to do is look at his party's record in Wales, where people are currently experiencing the worst AandE performance and the longest wait times anywhere in Great Britain."

Stepping Hill Hospital has been battling challenges due to deteriorating infrastructure. In fact, it had already faced two ceiling collapses after being forced to close its Outpatients B department last November, reports the Manchester Evening News.

This was due to "significant deterioration of the structure of the building", based on inspector reports.

Now, the outpatient unit is operating below optimal levels, providing only 51 per cent of its usual outpatient appointments. The services, formerly occurring in the Outpatient B department, are now functioning at lower capacity than before.

"A small number of services, including ophthalmology, are still to be found temporary homes due to the need to accommodate large pieces of equipment that are not easy to move," reported Karen James, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust chief executive, to the board meeting in April.

She also added: "Our estates team is prioritising efforts to find alternative accommodation for those services as well as permanent homes for the others as we move forward with the demolition of Outpatients B."

The first incident occurred on March 4th when the ceiling in the radiology department partially collapsed due to a leak, forcing the cancellation of several procedures.

The hospital trust has not disclosed how many appointments were affected, as per the Guardian report.

Another collapse occurred the next day in the critical care unit, where seriously ill patients receiving high-dependency care are treated. Swift action was required to evacuate the 13-bed unit and ensure patient safety.

The evacuated patients were initially cared for in some of Stepping Hill's 20 operating theatres, with some later transferred to a nearby hospital while repairs were carried out, another Guardian report said.

Ms James informed the board that in addition to the outpatient unit's closure, "we have also experienced unexpected and unrelated ceiling collapses in our critical care unit and radiology department, due to leaks from the heating system".

She further stated: "The critical care unit had to be evacuated but no patients suffered harm thanks to the prompt actions of our staff. The leak in the radiology department did cause the cancellation of some appointments."

The chief executive also cautioned that the "estate issues are increasingly affecting our services ... we are likely to face more business continuity problems as a result of our ageing buildings".

Ms James hinted that carrying out the repairs could be challenging as the trust will 'have to be realistic about the amount of capital funding that is likely to be available in 2024-25 to maintain the current hospital buildings'.

Stepping Hill has been desperately seeking additional funding to fix the deteriorating parts of the hospital, including applying to become one of the 40 'new hospitals' which the then-Prime Minister promised in 2019 to build by 2030. However, that application was turned down.

A spokesperson for the Stockport NHS Trust stated: "Leaks are a relatively common occurrence across a large and diverse estate, made up of different aged buildings, infrastructure and condition. We regularly survey the estate to measure the condition and help us direct investment to the appropriate area. It is common for small repairs to convert into larger more complex work, up to and including roof replacement."