Hospitals have been informed to make sure they’ve evacuation plans in place to cope with the danger of collapse-prone concrete.
NHS chiefs have been informed to have procedures to deal with the failure of bolstered autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac), together with for the “decant of sufferers and companies”.
Managers in hospitals the place Raac has already been confirmed have been informed to make sure that administration plans to cope with it are “sufficiently strong and being applied”.
Planning for Raac failure, together with the decant of sufferers and companies the place Raac panels are current in medical areas, is … a part of enterprise continuity planning for trusts the place Raac is thought to be current
NHS England
A letter despatched from NHS England to belief chiefs stated 27 websites had beforehand been recognized as having Raac, with three of them having already eradicated the concrete.
The letter, from NHS England’s chief industrial officer Jacqui Rock and nationwide director for emergency planning and incident response Dr Mike Prentice, referred to as for trusts to ensure work to determine and handle Raac had been correctly carried out.
But it surely added that plans for Raac collapses additionally wanted to be saved updated.
“Efficient administration of Raac considerably reduces related dangers; however doesn’t fully remove them,” they stated.
“Planning for Raac failure, together with the decant of sufferers and companies the place Raac panels are current in medical areas, is, subsequently, a part of enterprise continuity planning for trusts the place Raac is thought to be current, or is doubtlessly current.”
A regional evacuation plan was created and examined within the East of England area, with classes from it shared throughout the nation.
“We’d suggest that each one boards be certain that they’re accustomed to the training from this train and that they’re being integrated into commonplace enterprise continuity planning as a matter of excellent apply,” the NHS England letter stated.
“This train is, nevertheless, important for these organisations with recognized Raac, and needs to be performed as a matter of precedence if it has not already been accomplished.”
The NHS has been surveying websites and finishing up Raac mitigation work since 2019.
Nearly £700 million has been allotted for mitigation work between 2021 and 2025, enabling trusts to place in place remediation and failsafe measures, with a aim of eradicating Raac from NHS buildings completely by 2035.
Seven hospitals – Airedale, Queen Elizabeth King’s Lynn, Hinchingbrooke, Mid Cheshire Leighton, Frimley Park, West Suffolk Hospital and James Paget Hospital in Nice Yarmouth – will likely be rebuilt as a result of Raac considerations.
