Crumbling hospitals and schools get cash injection as NHS chief gives safety warning

Hospitals and schools will get a £1.2billion funding boost to fix crumbling buildings left to decay after years of Tory neglect.

More than 400 , mental health units and ambulance sites will be able to fix leaky pipes, poor ventilation and electrical problems from a £750 million pot.

Fixing the maintenance backlog at hospitals can help prevent procedures being cancelled, with services disrupted over 4,000 times in 2023/24 due to building issues, according to the Department of Health. Meanwhile, some 656 schools and sixth forms will benefit from £470million to help fix crumbling roofs and remove dangerous asbestos.

The announcement was welcomed by school and NHS leaders - but triggered warnings that it was a "small down payment" on the true cost of vital repairs.

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Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “A decade and a half of underinvestment left hospitals crumbling, with burst pipes flooding emergency departments, faulty electrical systems shutting down operating theatres, and mothers giving birth in outdated facilities that lack basic dignity. We are on a mission to rebuild our NHS through investment and modernisation.

“Patients and staff deserve to be in buildings that are safe, comfortable and fit for purpose. Through our Plan for Change, we will make our NHS fit for the future.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “The defining image of the school estate under the previous government was children sitting under steel props to stop crumbling concrete falling on their heads. It simply isn't good enough. Parents expect their children to learn in a safe, warm environment. It’s what children deserve, and it is what we are delivering.”

The first upgrades are expected to begin this summer, with projects to be delivered by the end of the 2025/26 financial year. NHS leaders said the repair backlog in the health service was closer to £14billion and warned the safety of patients and staff was at risk.

Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: "An eye-watering near £14billion is needed just to patch up buildings and equipment which are in a very bad way right across hospital, mental health, community health and ambulance services.

"Mental health services alone have a £1billion-plus backlog. Vital bits of the NHS are literally falling apart after years of underinvestment nationally."

He urged the Government to shake up its rules on capital investment in next month's spending review to tackle the logjam in essential repairs. “Safety of patients and staff is at risk," he added.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the cash should help to boost NHS productivity and cut waiting times for elective care. He added: "However, £750million is a small down payment on the £14billion maintenance backlog that remains. At £750million a year, it would take almost 20 years to clear the backlog, assuming it does not continue to grow."

Teaching unions also warned the funding risked "papering over the cracks" of the £13.8billion maintenance backlog in schools.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “School leaders frequently tell us of the unacceptable building conditions with which pupils and staff are having to contend - from RAAC [Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete] to leaking roofs, draughty portable cabins and school dinners being served in corridors."

He said the funding was welcome but much more government investment and a long-term plan was needed to restore the school estate.

Julia Harnden, funding specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “While we welcome any money spent on school buildings, what the government is announcing is simply the annual round of allocations for urgent repairs and maintenance following bids from schools and sixth form colleges in England.

“The wider problem is that there is a massive £13.8 billion maintenance backlog across the school estate and we are still nowhere near the level of investment needed to address this.

"The fact that schools and sixth form colleges have to bid for funding for urgent repairs and maintenance is in itself a sign of the inadequacy of overall investment and is effectively an annual exercise in papering over the cracks.”

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