How 'crumbling' Airedale General Hospital wards are held up by hundreds of props

Bosses at a "crumbling" NHS hospital say they have been forced to use hundreds of props to hold up ward ceilings as they await vital repairs.

Last week it was announced that Airedale General Hospital, near Keighley, West Yorkshire, would be rebuilt after the government agreed with the findings of a report which said it was not safe to operate beyond 2030.

The announcement came four years after it was revealed that Airedale, which serves 200,000 patients, was one of a number of hospitals built from a type of concrete now known to be unsustainable.

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which has a 30-year lifespan, was used in more than 80% of Airedale's buildings in the 1960s.

Metal props are now being used to keep the hospital usable.

Speaking to ITV News, estates project manager Richard Burgin said: "We've several hundred structural props across the entire estate.

"Although we're working as hard as we can to making it wholly safe, we're not there yet."

Airedale NHS Foundation chief executive Foluke Akayi said: "We have a building that's crumbling, literally crumbling.

An example of how Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete can corrode over time.

"We have a building that's not able to stand the needs of the modern day. Our engineers spend hours trying to understand and review the challenges of the building.

"We had a situation two years ago where we had a prop being inserted right next to a woman who was in labour."

RAAC is a lightweight form of concrete used in roof, floor, cladding and wall construction in many public buildings in the UK from the 1950s to the 1980s.

It is prone to corroding when wet.

Announcing that Airedale would be among five hospitals that would be rebuilt because of safety concerns, health secretary Steve Barclay said: "We now know that RAAC has a limited lifespan with difficult and dangerous consequences for the people who rely on or work in those hospitals."

The new hospital will be built on the car park and is likely to take six years to construct.

Ms Akayi said: "It's great news for us and finally relief for all of us that we can have a new hospital. What it does is secures the future of healthcare delivery for our local population."

It comes after inspectors told the hospital its maternity services must improve after they found safety issues caused by staff shortages.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.