Our hospital buildings are crumbling under the Conservatives' watch

A Freedom of Information investigation by the Liberal Democrats has found that England’s hospitals are crumbling, with chemicals leaking in patient areas and others with multiple broken fire alarms.

The frightening new revelations follow record repair costs, as the cost of eradicating the repair backlog at NHS hospitals and equipment hit £10bn for the first time last year. Last year, the Liberal Democrats also discovered hundreds of sewage leaks in hospitals around the country.

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

“This is shocking. Hospitals are falling apart, with chemical leaks in critical wards and a frightening number of faulty fire alarms. The repair budget for crumbling hospitals is mounting up yet Ministers are nowhere to be found.

“We already know the government is on track to break its promise on delivering its so-called “new hospitals” by 2030, so the very least they could do is fix the ones we have.

“Patients deserve the dignity of being treated in safe, modern and clean hospitals. Instead we have heard stories of sewage spills and chemical leaks leading to evacuations. The British public pay their fair share and deserve better than this.

“The Conservative government needs to step up and fix our hospitals. The Conservative party simply cannot be trusted with the NHS.”