An in-debt hospital trust would need an extra £92m to return Huddersfield Royal Infirmary to a satisfactory condition.
The hospital, which currently houses Huddersfield’s A&E, is in a ‘poor condition’ which would cost £92.4m to fix, trust bosses have said.
Among its problems the Infirmary. which was completed in 1965, has deadly asbestos within its structure.
And according to a five-year sustainability report produced by hospital chiefs, HRI has corroded pipework ‘that could potentially fail’ and electricity supplies which are ‘not robust’.
The report also identifies fire safety precautions which are ‘not sufficient’ as well as leaking roofs and areas of the hospital which do not aid patients’ treatment and recovery.
It adds that the majority of the Infirmary’s windows need replacing.
Under Right Care Right Time Right Place, HRI will be demolished and replaced with a new hospital next to Acre Mills.
It will have an urgent care centre but, crucially, no A&E department which means life-threatening cases will be sent to Calderdale Royal Hospital, Halifax, or further afield.
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Local NHS bosses behind the hospital shake-up have cited HRI’s dilapidated state as a reason to site emergency care at Calderdale Royal Hospital (CRH), which was opened in 2001.
The report says: “Originally constructed in 1965, HRI is in poor condition and time expired with significant backlog maintenance and replacement required.
“A survey conducted by NIFES Consulting Group in 2013 identified statutory items across the site that required immediate remedial action and recorded that the site impacted operational performance.
“Since the survey, the trust has struggled to address these issues due to financial pressures.
“More recently, it has been estimated that £92.4m would be required to bring the estate to a category B level.”
A NHS hospital rated ‘category B’ means it is ‘sound, operationally safe and exhibits minor deterioration’.
Local NHS bosses have admitted that a private finance initiative (PFI) used to build CRH has been a major factor in deciding where to site emergency care services.
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The hospital was built for £64m but Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust (CHFT) will have to pay investors £774m by 2058.
The report adds: “The current configuration is also expensive, with backlog maintenance and upgrade required for time expired buildings at the HRI site amounting to £92m and the PFI at the CRH site amounting to an annual revenue cost in excess of £20m. These costs are not sustainable.”
Last year, health chiefs calculated that CHFT needed to spend £3,724,000 on HRI to prevent major disruptions to patients as well as safety lapses resulting in serious injuries and compensation claims.
The trust, which fell into deficit for the first time last year, is expected to end the financial year £21m in the red.
