Blocked toilets leave hospitals with £90k bill

Hospital bosses have had to spend about £90,000 on unblocking toilets in six months.

More than 1,000 blockages had to be cleared at the Royal Preston and Chorley and South Ribble hospitals.

Some blockages were said to have been so severe that they led to water flooding out onto corridors and into some wards, posing a potential health hazard.

The problems were said to be caused by wet wipes and sanitary products.

'Pee, poo and paper'

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LTH), which runs the two sites, and United Utilities have appealed to people to flush only toilet roll and their own bodily waste – or “pee, poo and paper” – down the pan.

The problem was said to have been particularly bad at the Royal Preston.

Although people are generally advised not to flush wipes and nappies down toilets, the condition of some of the facilities at the Sharoe Green Lane site means they are even less able to cope with them.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Maintenance Team are supporting a campaign to bin wipes

Cliff Howell, LTH’s director of estates and facilities, said the trust has seen “a huge increase in floods in toilet and bathroom areas caused by pipes that have become blocked because of unsuitable products being flushed down the loo”.

“As many of the toilets are small spaces, it isn’t unusual for the blockage to cause flooding in corridors or even hospital wards.

“These incidents are time-consuming [and] expensive – but they’re also avoidable. We have a simple request – please use waste bins to dispose of any personal hygiene products."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]