NHS Trusts told to check buildings for combustible cladding
NHS Improvements urges 200 Trusts to pay particular attention to tall buildings and those with in-patients.
Saturday 24 June 2017 05:50, UK
NHS Trusts have been told to urgently check their buildings to establish whether any are clad in materials implicated in the the Grenfell Tower fire.
Regulator NHS Improvement has written to around 200 Trusts in England asking them to report back when safety checks have been completed.
In a letter sent on Monday, they asked Trusts to pay particular attention to tall buildings on hospital estates and those with in-patients - and to report back within 24 hours.
Fourteen high rise blocks across nine local authorities have been identified as having potentially combustible cladding since the fire at the Grenfell Tower, which is believed to have killed at least 79 people.
About 600 tower blocks identified as being clad in plastic materials are being tested and those found to have flammable cladding or insulation may have to be evacuated and the material removed.
Police said on Friday that the , but the insulation on the block was even more highly more flammable.
The letter from NHS Improvement asked Trusts to detail what type of cladding is used on all buildings on their estates, including those built under Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deals; which contractors carried out the work; how many storeys buildings have; whether in-patients are present; and if any risk assessment has been carried out in the last year.
The director of estates and facilities told Trusts he needed the information in order to allow the regulator to target assistance at hospitals that may need it.
An extract of the letter from Simon Corden, published by Health Service Journal, reads: "We do need to take all reasonable precautionary measures and be ready to rapidly implement any recommendations that come from the findings of the ongoing investigations."
Downing Street has said a testing facility being used to check council and housing association buildings is also available to the owners of private blocks and they are being encouraged to use it.
Premier Inn has said it is "concerned" about whether cladding on some of its hotels meets safety standards - but added that it is not the same material as that on Grenfell Tower.