FOI/25/185

Request

FOI Questions on NHS Infrastructure; Hospital Repairs, Backlog, and Investments (2019-2024)

1. Building Age and Infrastructure Risks

1.1 For each year from 2019 to 2024, how many hospital buildings under your Trust were identified as being in urgent need of repair due to their age? Please also include the age of each building.

1.2 For each hospital building under your Trust, what specific infrastructure risks were identified (e.g., structural deficiencies, malfunctioning equipment, fire safety hazards, etc.)?

1.3 How much funding has been allocated for the maintenance and repair of ageing hospital buildings under your Trust over the past five years?

2. Annual Backlog of Repairs in NHS Hospitals

2.1 Please provide the total cost of the backlog of repairs for hospitals buildings under your Trust, broken down by year for the period 2019 to 2024.

2.2 Could you also break down these costs into the following risk categories, for each year:

• High Risk and Critical Repairs: What is the estimated cost to eradicate high-risk backlog maintenance in hospital buildings under your Trust from 2019 to 2024?
• Moderate and Low Risk Repairs: What is the estimated cost to eradicate non-critical repairs in hospital buildings under your Trust for the same period?

3. Major Infrastructure Failures

3.1 From 2019 to 2024, have there been any significant failures in hospital infrastructure within your Trust, such as structural problems, mechanical breakdowns, fires, etc., related to repair backlogs? Please provide details for each occurrence, including:

• The type of failure (e.g., structural issues, mechanical breakdowns, fires, etc.).
• The date the failure occurred.

FOI Questions on Waiting Times, Bed/Admission Capacity, Maternity Units, and Mortuary Space (2019-2024)

1. Trolley Waits and Corridor Waits

1.1 Could you provide the number of patients who faced "trolley waits" or "corridor waits" due to infrastructure issues in hospitals within your Trust for each year from 2019 to 2024? Please include the numbers for:

• Waits over 4 hours.
• Waits over 12 hours.
• Waits over 24 hours.

1.2 Please provide the average waiting time for these patients each year.

2. Admission Capacity and Bed Availability

2.1 For each year from 2019 to 2024, what was the average bed occupancy rate across hospitals under your Trust?

• How many days, if any, did hospitals under your Trust reach full bed capacity (100% occupancy) each year?
• How many beds were available for admissions in hospitals under your Trust at the end of each year (2019-2024)? Where possible, please break this down by general beds, ICU beds, and A&E beds.
• How many beds were added or removed from hospitals under your Trust during this period?

3. Waiting Times for Hospital Treatment

3.1 For each year from 2019 to 2024, what was the total number of patients on waiting lists for hospital treatment, attributed to infrastructure failure in hospitals under your Trust?

3.2 Of these patients, how many waited longer than:

• 18 weeks (NHS target time for non-urgent referrals)?
• 26 weeks?
• 52 weeks?

3.3 Could you provide the average waiting time for elective surgery or hospital treatment for each year from 2019 to 2024, attributed to infrastructure failure in hospitals under your Trust?

4. Mortality Due to Delays in Urgent Care

4.1 For each year from 2019 to 2024, how many deaths were reported in hospitals within your Trust where delays in receiving urgent or emergency care, due to infrastructure failures, were identified as contributing factors?

5. Maternity Unit Safety and Condition

5.1 Could you provide the number of maternity units within your Trust that were considered unsafe or needed urgent repairs each year from 2019 to 2024?

6. Mortuary Space and Storage Challenges

6.1 For each year from 2019 to 2024, could you provide the number of instances where mortuary storage capacity in hospitals under your Trust was exceeded?

6.2 For each year from 2019 to 2024, how many bodies were reported to have been left in inadequate storage conditions due to insufficient freezer space or other mortuary capacity issues in hospitals under your Trust?

6.3 What is the current storage capacity for bodies in the mortuaries of hospitals under your Trust? (number of spaces available for body storage)?

Response

Having completed enquiries within the Trust and in respect of Section 1(1)(a), CLCH does not hold information relating to your request.

CLCH does not have hospitals, it has wards which we are not responsible for repair or backlog maintenance in any case. Due to the nature of the services CLCH provide and as we are a Community Health Trust, this FOI request is not applicable to the Trust. To see services, we do provide in CLCH, please visit the link below.

Services :: Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (clch.nhs.uk)