King's Lynn hospital patients fear roof collapse - health watchdog

Thousands of temporary supports are in place around the hospital

Patients have been asking to go to other hospitals rather than one where the ageing roof is being held up by more than 2,400 wooden and steel posts.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn has already had to close four of its seven operating theatres because of concerns the ceiling could collapse.

Alex Stewart, head of Healthwatch Norfolk, said some pregnant women have asked to go to other hospitals.

The trust is hoping it will be one of eight in England to get a new hospital.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) opened in 1980, one of seven hospitals built using a material called reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

The material has serious weaknesses and is deteriorating, with uncertainty over its structural integrity leading to more than £100m being spent this financial year on safety measures across the affected sites.

Beams and props are holding up parts of the ceiling

Mr Stewart told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think people are very frustrated, they're well aware that the hospital staff inspect the hospital on a daily basis, several times a day.

"That said, we are aware of patients, for example, who are giving birth, who have asked to go to other hospitals because they're scared in case the roof might fall in on them.

"So there's a perception that is perhaps unrealistic, but it's there all the same."

It would cost £554m over the next 10 years to make repairs to the existing hospital building, its chief executive said in April

The hospital's interim chief executive, Alice Webster, said while four theatres have had to be closed, "potentially" there could be problems with the ceilings in the others.

"We continue to monitor it on a daily basis," she said.

"We're making sure our theatres are functioning longer, we're functioning at weekends and trying to manage the waiting lists that way."

She added: "If we don't get a new hospital we will have to review all the services that we currently provide, but we won't be able to provide all the services that we currently do."

This is one of the props in an operating theatre

In 2020, the government announced 40 hospitals would be built by 2030 as part of a package worth £3.7bn, with a further eight schemes invited to bid for future funding.

The trust is waiting to hear if it will be one of those eight across England chosen to get a new hospital.

In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care, said "We are committed to delivering 40 new hospitals by 2030, backed by an initial £3.7bn, which will be the biggest hospital building programme in a generation, and ensure a stronger future for the NHS and we will identify a further eight new hospital schemes - the process for which is ongoing with a final decision announced later this year."