The dire state of a Norfolk hospital has been highlighted by figures showing that the number of temporary props stopping its ceiling from collapsing has more than doubled in just four months.
Some 470 steel and timber support beams have now been installed across King’s Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital - up from 213 at the start of November 2021.
The statistic comes just days before an expected announcement from the Department of Health on whether the QEH will be longlisted to become one of eight new hospitals built in England.
“We believe we are the most propped hospital in the country,” said professor Steve Barnett, chair of the QEH’s board of directors, in a report.
Prof Barnett explained that the hospital is currently in the process of installing “failsafe” props across its estate, “to reduce the risk of plank failures and to maximise safety”.
The chairman wrote: “This number [470] of steel and timber support props has increased substantially because the installation of failsafes has been completed in a large internal corridor that links the first floor with the ground floor of the hospital - which is used as the evacuation route for the hospital in an emergency.”
He added that the cost of fitting the entire hospital with failsafe beams would cost almost £200 million.
“We estimate it will cost £190m in total to install failsafes across all of the buildings and we are discussing the funding needs in detail with our regional colleagues at NHS England and Improvement so that we are doing all we can to maximise the safety and compliance of the current hospital.”
A new £12.5m endoscopy unit being built on the hospital’s grounds - expected to open in the spring - will create space to enable further failsafe supports to be installed across the first floor of the main hospital on a rolling basis.
The QEH was last month informed by the Care Quality Commission that it had been brought out of special measures - and it was rated “good” in the categories of being a “well-led”, “caring” and “effective” hospital.
Its overall “inadequate” rating, which it had held since 2018, was replaced with a “requires improvement” rating.
How pressured is the QEH?
An increase in Covid hospitalisations - spurred on by the Omicron variant - meant the QEH was forced to scale back elective surgeries in the weeks following Christmas.
The QEH had hoped to resume its full elective programme by February 11.
But in a report authored by hospital chief executive Caroline Shaw, she wrote: “Unfortunately demand on our services, including COVID-19 admissions, has not reduced to a sufficient level and we have had to make the difficult decision to pause our de-escalation plans.”
The hospital now intends to resume its programme at some point within the coming days.
As of February 19, the trust had 65 Covid patients, all of whom are receiving ward-based care across two wards.
This is 13 more Covid in-patients than was reported to the hospital’s board of directors in January.
So far, 62pc of staff have had their flu vaccination and 81pc of staff have had their Covid booster jab, 96.2pc their first Covid jab and 94.3pc their second jab.
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