Shropshire hospitals 'committed to investing in buildings and equipment'

It comes after a Freedom of Information request by the Labour Party to English hospitals found many had suffered collapsed ceilings, sewage leaking on to wards, and broken heating and lifts.

Currently, work is taking place on the Copthorne Building at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to rectify a number of historic issues uncovered during a recent £500,000 refurbishment.

Health bosses at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs RSH and Telford's Princess Royal Hospital, say parts of its estate date back almost 60 years which often means they need more maintenance, and must meet far higher standards to comply with current legislation.

Julia Clarke, director of corporate governance at SaTH, said: “Like any property owner, we know that this is something that requires constant and continuous attention and we have to try to balance the priorities.

"We also need to ensure our plans are deliverable while maintaining services for our patients.

“This is an issue that the trust board is sighted on and we recently announced an investment of £32 million into our hospitals – £17 million of which has been earmarked to improve our estate.”

She said the trust's priority was to provide 'safe and dignified care' for patients, which included making sure all areas of its hospitals are fit for purpose.

Mark Brandreth, chief executive of The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, near Oswestry, says staff there have worked hard to manage finances carefully, while maintaining high quality patient experience and outcomes.

He said: "That has enabled us to deliver small financial surpluses in each of the last three years giving us the capital to make sustainable investment in our buildings and equipment.

“It is of concern how limited NHS capital is this year as like many trusts we would want to continue to invest to keep our services safe.

"We always prioritise so that we focus on safety as a first priority but it is fair to say we could of course use more money.

“We are aware of the need across the local health system, and the NHS as a whole, to manage our resources carefully.

"We continue to work with our partners and regulators on our plans for the next 12 months and beyond.”

The Department of Health and Social Care said the Government was investing £3.9 billion to upgrade facilities, which is already improving A&Es, buying cutting edge technology and putting more beds on wards up and down the country.

It said the NHS Long Term Plan sets out ambitions to further modernise the health service over the next 10 years.