Released 7 December 2022
Request:
- As of the date of this request, what is the longest amount of time – in days – that one of your outstanding structural maintenance issues has been left unresolved?
Structural maintenance issues could include leaks, collapsed ceilings and creaking support beams. Please could you answer Q1 for the three structural issues which have been left unresolved for the longest amount of time, in descending order. - Please send all of your trusts’ hospital reports – commissioned since 01/01/22 – into the safety of their buildings and the risk posed to patients in the event of structural failure in the hospitals.
If there are no reports as of 01/01/22, please send the Trusts’ most recent report.
Clarification sought from applicant on 25 October 2022:
We have carefully considered your request however it can be interpreted in a number of ways. Can you please clarify what you mean by “structural maintenance issues”? Our engineers have advised that leaks or collapsed ceilings are often not related to structural defects of a building.
Reply received 10 November 2022:
1. As of the date of this request, what is the longest amount of time – in days – that key maintenance issues (such as leaks and cracked beams) or structural maintenance issues (such as cracked roof panels or collapsed ceilings) have been left unresolved?
Please identify the issue in your response.
2. Please send all of your trusts’ hospital reports – commissioned since 01/01/22 – into the safety of their buildings and the risk posed to patients in the event of structural failure in the hospitals.
If there are no reports as of 01/01/22, please send the Trusts’ most recent report.
Information disclosed:
1. As at 10 November 2022, the Trust has one key structural maintenance issue currently unresolved which was identified in September 2022.
The issue involves cracking in the wall junctions and around windows in the staircase in the Cancer Centre on the Royal Sussex County Hospital site. It is thought the issue is related to the 3Ts Hospital Redevelopment project currently in progress on this site.
There are a number of other more standard maintenance issues that will also be addressed through this project. Information about the 3Ts Hospital Redevelopment project
2. Since it was formed on 1 April 2021, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has not commissioned a report that meets the specific criteria of your request.
The Trust has, however, commissioned a site visit report into the issue at the Cancer Centre mentioned above which was carried out on 26 October 2022.
The contractor will now investigate the issue further with a number of surveys to better assess the problems associated with the cracking. There are currently no concerns about structural failure associated with this building.