Hospital trust seeks almost £5m to remove Raac

Raac was found in office and staff accommodation blocks in 2023

A hospital trust is seeking £4.9m from NHS England to remove a collapse-prone concrete.

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) was found in five office and two staff accommodation blocks at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust in 2023.

Work to reinforce the structures and make the buildings safe was completed in March.

The trust said there had never been any risk to patients and there had been no disruption to clinical services.

The safety work cost about £1m and came out of the organisation's capital budget, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

But now the trust wants to remove Raac completely from the buildings and has put a bid in to NHS England.

A spokesperson said the removal of Raac "would be subject to the bid being approved”, with no timescale having been provided as to when a decision may be made.

The works would be phased over four years, they said.

NHS England referred the LDRS to the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) for comment, but none was received.