Major incident declared at Withybush Hospital.

Patients have been evacuated after the discovery of weak concrete in the building

RAAC was found within the hospital, and patients were evacuated on Tuesday
Author: Claire BoadPublished 15th Aug 2023

Patients at a hospital in Pembrokeshire have been evacuated after weak concrete has been discovered in the building.

Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest was confirmed to have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, known as RAAC.

It has a limited life and can collapse with no warning.

The material was commonly used from the 1960s to the 1990s. It has also been found in limited parts of Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion.

The Hywel Dda University Health Board says they are working with the Welsh government to work how the full extent of the issue.

In a statement, the health board said 'While best efforts are being made to conduct survey work as quickly as possible, the resulting findings of the survey work is, in some cases, requiring patients to be moved from wards to alternative locations and adapting services to reflect the availability of the site.

'As time progresses, this is likely to have an impact on other health board services at other sites as we move patients and services to alternate locations.

'Local mitigations are also being put in place, including structural props and temporary closure of impacted areas'.

They also said patients should attend appointments at the hospital as usual, but that may change at short notice.

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