Lib Dem candidate hits out over Harrogate Hospital’s £10m repairs bill and points to Government's 'neglect' of NHS

Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Harrogate & Knaresborough, said the growing backlog of hospital repairs was just one symptom of the Conservative Government not giving the NHS the tools to do the job.

Pointing to a recent NHS Foundation Trusts report which showed the cost required to address backlog maintenance on Harrogate District Hospital in 2020/2021 was £9,984,901, Mr Gordon claimed the situation was part of lack of support for the NHS in the last 13 years of Conservative government.

"The sheer amount of repairs needed at Harrogate Hospital is terrifying,” argued Mr Gordon.

"Years of underinvestment and neglect of our local health services has led to crumbling hospital infrastructure.

“People tell me it is almost impossible to see their GP, let alone find a NHS dental appointment.

"I know first-hand how fantastic our NHS is, but it just feels like the Conservative Government isn’t giving it the tools to succeed and provide the level of care it used to be able to.”

A spokesperson for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust told the Harrogate Advertiser the repairs backlog for Harrogate District Hospital was partly the result of the building’s age and was, in fact, lower than average.

In addition, the Harrogate NHS Trust would be seeking to reduce its costs and environmental impact with a series of new projects.

Statement from Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust

“All NHS Foundation Trusts report on their backlog maintenance position via the Estates Returns Information Collection (ERIC) portal as requested by NHS England.

“The costs are essentially lifecycle replacement costs that are generated from an annual backlog condition survey.

"It identifies any infrastructure, plant or equipment that has the potential to fail within the next five years and allows the Trust to risk assess and plan the lifecycle replacement accordingly.

"Maintenance costs will generally be lower for hospitals which have recently been refurbished or have been built within the last five years, for example”

"Harrogate District Hospital, was built in phases between 1975 and 1998, and a number of our additional office buildings are significantly older.

"As such, we incur additional maintenance costs compared to more modern buildings due to the age of our estate.

“In 2020/2021 the cost required to address our backlog maintenance was estimated at £9.98 million and included a wide range of projects of varying size.

"The median estimated backlog for Trusts of a similar estate size to HDFT across England was £16.27 million.

“The Trust is undertaking a number of projects as part of our £14 million Salix investment to help reduce costs and our environmental impact.

“This work includes insulating our roofing and replacing glazing across the Harrogate District Hospital site to help reduce our energy consumption, replacing air handling units to increase efficiency and extract heat energy, and installing photovoltaic arrays to generate electricity.

"Through this work we are already seeing big efficiency gains and further projects will continue in the years ahead.”

During PMQs today, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the Government remained committed to upgrading dozens of hospitals and investing in the NHS.