Bucks NHS faces £100m repairs backlog
Nationally the costs associated with repairing England's ageing hospitals is estimated at around £2billion
New data compiled by the BBC has uncovered that Bucks NHS Trust, faces a staggering £100 million backlog in repairs.
The figures, compiled by the BBC Shared Data Unit, revealed Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust ranked fourth in England for its high-risk repairs backlog among general acute hospitals during the 2022-2023 period.
At the heart of this backlog is the aging infrastructure of Wycombe Hospital, notably its tower, which the trust describes as being in poor condition. The maintenance requirements for the Wycombe Hospital site alone amount to around £100 million, with £80 million attributed to the tower. This tower, housing critical facilities such as an intensive care unit and operating theatres, demands an annual expenditure of approximately £2 million solely for monitoring its condition.
Constructed over several phases since the 1960s, Wycombe Hospital serves as the primary site for planned surgeries within the trust. Despite offering specialized treatments and housing the Urgent Treatment Centre for minor injuries and conditions, many of its buildings are deemed inadequate for modern healthcare standards.
Furthermore, the trust's portfolio includes historic structures like the Stoke Mandeville site, originally established as a cholera hospital in the 1830s, highlighting the substantial challenges in maintaining and upgrading these facilities.
While the overall repairs backlog for general acute hospitals at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust saw a marginal decrease of 0.1% in the last financial year, the high-risk repair costs surged dramatically by 125.4%, from £44.7 million to £100.8 million. Nationally, the high-risk repairs backlog soared by over a third to £2.08 billion, while the overall repairs backlog increased by 8.7% to £9.5 billion (figures adjusted for inflation).
Despite these daunting figures, there were no reported "clinical service incidents caused by estates and infrastructure failure" during the 2022-23 period, maintaining the same level as the previous year.
On a national scale, the findings from Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust are indicative of broader challenges facing healthcare infrastructure across England.
The data reveals a concerning trend, with the high-risk repairs backlog for general acute hospitals rising by over a third in the last year to £2.08 billion.
This substantial increase underscores the urgent need for investment in addressing maintenance needs across the healthcare sector. Furthermore, the overall repairs backlog has seen an 8.7% increase to £9.5 billion, further highlighting the scale of the challenge.