Patients and staff have described hearing popping, cracking and creaking in the ceiling.
A crumbling hospital in Liz Truss’ constituency was forced to close three of its operating theatres on Thursday, after staff members noticed movement in the ceiling.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn currently has its roof held up by more than 1,500 steel and wooden stilts, but was forced to close after patients and staff have described hearing popping, cracking, and creaking in the ceiling.
Opened in 1980 using a material called reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, the temporary solution was not meant to last more than thirty years.
It was not granted funding under the Conservative’s £3.7 billion plan to build 40 “new” hospitals by 2030, but is waiting to hear if it will be listed for a further government-funded shortlist.
A spokesperson for the hospital said it was forced to close three of six operating theatres due to some movements along the theatre corridor.
Fortunately no appointments were cancelled, after the hospital managed to reallocate the theatre list, which may not have been possible had the hospital been experiencing high levels of patients.
Lib Dem Councillor Rob Colwell described the situation as “dire”.
“It really highlights the stark dangers facing the QEH and the huge possible danger to patients and staff,” he said.
“The hospital and the community have been warning of problems for years.
“Whilst the prognosis of this latest development is awaited, I worry about the impact this will have on the known backlogs to NHS waiting lists that existed even before covid.
“I urge this zombie government to make a decision now on a full rebuild for our propped up hospital, rather than delay many more months, whilst this leadership pantomime plays out.”
https://twitter.com/save_lynn/status/1404831658361212928/photo/1
Addressing NHS backlogs earlier this week, Truss suggested that middle managers who were “micromanaging people on the frontline” was holding the NHS back.
Speaking during the TalkTV debate she said: “There has been issues during Covid about people being able to get the support that they need. I think the issue is that too often we are directing and micromanaging people on the frontline, the doctors and nurses who do the work.
“What I want to see is fewer layers of management in the National Health Service and less central direction because I simply don’t think that people can sit there in Whitehall and direct everything that happens in local communities across our country.”
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