12.10.16
NHS high-risk maintenance backlog increases by 70%
NHS trusts are increasingly struggling to address serious maintenance concerns with their estate, new figures from NHS Digital show.
The level of investment needed for NHS building repairs, used as a measure of the buildings’ quality, increased in the most high-risk areas between 2014-15 and 2015-16.
The cost of the high-risk backlog increased by 69.3% from £458m to £776m, while the significant risk backlog increased by 47.6% from £1.06bn to £1.57bn.
However, there were decreases in the cost of the moderate and low-risk backlogs, from £1.55bn to £1.52bn and from £1.27bn to £1.11bn.
Major safety concerns were recently raised about University Hospital, Coventry, after it emerged that it was built without proper fire safeguards.
Despite the increasing risks, the figures also show that less money is being spent on the NHS estate as the NHS as a whole struggles to tackle its deficit.
Between 2014-15 and 2015-16, the total capital invested in NHS estates decreased by 8%, or £185.8m.
Investment in improving buildings declined from £1.01bn to £951m, and spending on equipment went down from £510m to £380m.
There was a small increase in investments in new buildings (from £801m to £807). Buildings built since 1985 now make up 60.4% of the NHS estate, compared to 51.2% in 2011-12, and new buildings being built increased by 0.4%.
The money spent on maintenance services such as refurbishment, engineering, cleaning and portering increased from £8.23bn to £8.31bn.
(Image c. Peter Byrne)
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