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21
Oct
MP calls for 'urgent investment' in Harrogate hospital after NHS reveals £53m repair bill
More than £53 million is required for repairs at Harrogate and Ripon hospitals, according to the latest NHS England data.
The statistics give a breakdown of hospital maintenance backlogs at each NHS foundation trust in England.
They show Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Harrogate District Hospital and Ripon Community Hospital, needs £53,991,092 to eradicate all building repairs.
More than £14.1 million of that sum is needed for repairs deemed 'high risk', which means it could lead to serious injury or major disruption to services if it isn't urgently addressed.
Another £14.1 million is required for 'significant risk' repairs, £19.4 million for 'moderate risk' repairs and £6.3 million worth for 'low risk' repairs, NHS England adds.
Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrat MP Tom Gordon called for urgent investment.
In a statement this morning, Mr Gordon acknowledged Harrogate hospital had received funding for repairs due to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete but added more was needed.
Mr Gordon, who blamed the backlog of repairs on "the legacy of neglect and mismanagement of our NHS by the Conservative Party", said:
It is absolutely scandalous that people here in Harrogate and Knaresborough are being treated in hospitals that need millions in repairs. When someone goes to hospital, the very least they should expect is to be treated in a building that is safe.
It is now down to the new government to rise to the greatest challenge facing this country, rescuing our NHS. Which is why at the Budget the chancellor must use any changes to the borrowing rules to urgently invest in hospitals here in Harrogate and Knaresborough and clear this repair backlog.
The NHS England figures show Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust in London would need more than £500 million to pay off its own backlog, while Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, needs £873 million.
Labour will deliver its first Budget since this year's election on October 30.
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