'Unsafe' hospital cladding removal declared lawful

The tower block at Wycombe Hospital was built in 1965

The removal of dangerous cladding on a hospital building was lawful, council officials have confirmed.

A total of 114 tiles were stripped off the outside of Wycombe Hospital, in Buckinghamshire, as it was feared they might fall on people walking past.

Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust had to obtain a certificate of lawfulness from the local authority because of the nature of the work.

Buckinghamshire Council officials have confirmed that said there was "no good reason to refuse the application".

The eight-storey tower block, which dates to 1965, houses the hospital’s intensive care unit and operating theatres, but was in "poor condition".

The trust discovered during a structural inspection of the tower a large number of panels were in a poor condition and could fall onto people walking below.

Previous inspections in 2021 and 2023 revealed seeping water had corroded panel fixtures and concrete in the structure supporting the panels was "generally of very low strength".

The trust said: “Due to the health and safety risks associated with the cladding panels, including injury or death from a falling cladding panel, the identified 114 cladding panels have been removed.”

A total of 114 panels were found to be at risk of falling off the tower

After the panels had been taken off the tower at the end of April, the trust had to apply for a certificate of lawfulness for the work.

This was granted by the council after officials said there were no evidence to contradict the trust's assertion that the work was lawful.

The trust pays £2 million a year just to continue to monitor the condition of the building and to ensure that clinical services can be safely delivered.

The tower faces an £80 million repairs backlog and continues to suffer from issues such as "water ingress" from failed guttering and blocked downpipes, which have contributed to its "deterioration", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.