NHS buildings ‘falling apart’ as government sidesteps urgent funding issues
CAMPAIGNERS slammed the government for “not talking seriously” about health service funding today, after it emerged that the bill to fix crumbling NHS buildings has soared while patients and staff are left in harm’s way.
New figures show that the cost to eradicate NHS repairs in England jumped to £13.8 billion in 2023, up by a fifth compared to the previous year.
Costs amounting to £3bn were attributed to “high-risk” repairs, which could cause injury if left unaddressed.
NHS Providers deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery said: “Vital bits of the NHS are literally falling apart after years of underinvestment nationally.
“The safety of patients and staff is at risk.
“The list of essential repairs across the NHS waiting to be done keeps getting longer and the costs are rocketing.”
The spiralling maintenance backlog outstrips the cost of running the NHS estate itself, which also increased by 11 per cent to £13.6bn.
King’s Fund chief executive Sarah Woolnough said the backlog has grown due to the “repeated raiding” of capital budgets to shore up day-to-day running costs, coupled with “short-term sticking plaster solutions.”
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