Raac: Concrete found at site of Stockton's University Hospital of North Tees
Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) has been found in blocks on the site of the University Hospital of North Tees.
The concrete has been found in office and residential blocks occupied by staff at the hospital in Stockton, on Teesside.
No Raac has been found in the main hospital building where patients are treated, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust said.
The trust says seven blocks are affected – five for offices and two for staff accommodation. Staff have been kept informed and some have been moved to alternative accommodation while works are carried out, but ageing roofs may have to be replaced in the future.
The lightweight concrete, often used in public buildings between the 1950s and 1990s, has been found in more than 100 schools forcing them to fully or partially close.
A spokesperson for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust said: “Reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete (Raac) has been identified within our residential blocks at the University Hospital of North Tees. These blocks house office staff and residential accommodation only.
“Following IStructE guidance, we have carried out work to ensure our outbuildings are safe and we continue to monitor and inspect the buildings in line with national guidance. Our main hospital building where patients are cared for has not had any Raac identified within the building structure.
“There is an ongoing programme of work to make sure the trust’s whole estate is fit to provide first-class care to our population – the trust is committed to doing all it can in the future to ensure this estate is fit for modern health for many decades to come.”
The trust says it immediately brought in structural engineers to draw up a solution and employed a contractor to carry out the work.
The works to one block have been completed and work is being done on another block with completion due in late October, and costs will be finalised later, after final structural reports and a review of the options.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The NHS has a mitigation plan in place for hospital buildings with confirmed Raac, backed with significant additional funding of £698 million from 2021 to 2025, for trusts to put in place necessary remediation and failsafe measures. We remain committed to eradicating Raac from the NHS estate entirely by 2035.”
The DHSC says the situation is different to schools as the NHS has been surveying sites and carrying out Raac mitigation work since 2019, and much work can be carried out with “relatively minimal service disruption”.
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