In February 2024 The Shared Data Unit (SDU) looked at the scale of the backlog of repairs affecting hospitals, and the human impact of those: thousands of potentially-harmful incidents including critically-ill patients being moved when rainfall came through the ceiling.
Methodology
We analysed data from the last five years of the NHS’s to look at the cost of the backlog of repairs facing hospitals in the NHS. These repairs are grouped into four risk areas: “low”, “moderate”, “significant”, and “high risk”. To ensure that comparisons were accurate, historical costs were adjusted for inflation using the Construction output price indices on all construction (new work and repair and maintenance).
In some cases trusts have merged to create new trusts. Where possible we have used old trusts’ figures to provide historical context to the new trust’s repair costs, using .
Data on clinical incidents was taken from the same dataset. These are defined as those leading to “services being delayed, cancelled or otherwise interfered with owing to problems or failures related to the estates and infrastructure failure.” Incidents include problems with electrical, water or ventilation systems, internal fabric and fixtures, roofs and structures, or lifts and hoists.
Before 2021 this was only provided at trust level, so we have limited our analysis to the two latest years during which data has been provided at site level. In the most recent data hospitals also provide (where incidents have been recorded) data on the first, second, and third most clinically impactful incident type, and so we have included this too.
Further information on the methodology can be found in a
Data
- NHS Digital:
- ONS:
Scripts
As well as the Python notebook to gather, combine and clean the data on hospital buildings, R notebooks were used to create a bespoke analysis for 112 separate trusts, and publish that as a webpage with a page detailing the picture at each trust. The code for those notebooks is available in this repo in and at the links below.
Partner usage
- Alton Herald:
- Andover Advertiser:
- 成人快手 London: Leaks and extreme temperatures affecting patient care in London
- 成人快手 London: Hospitals: A look inside St Mary's Hospital in Paddington
- 成人快手 North East: Hospitals hit by power cuts as repair bills soar
- 成人快手 North East: Hospital bosses not doing jobs, says councillor
- 成人快手 Oxford: Oxford University Hospitals facing large urgent repair backlog
- Bedford Independent:
- Bedford Today:
- Bicester Advertiser:
- Birmingham World:
- BNN Breaking:
- BNN Breaking:
- BNN Breaking:
- Bolton News:
- Bracknell News:
- Bracknell News:
- Brighton Argus:
- Bristol World:
- Bucks Free Press:
- The Bucks Herald:
- The Bucks Herald:
- Cambridge Independent:
- Crediton Courier:
- Devon Live:
- Essex Live:
- Falmouth Packet:
- Greatest Hits Radio:
- Greatest Hits Radio:
- Greatest Hits Radio:
- Harrow Online:
- Herts Advertiser:
- Hertfordshire Comet:
- Hucknall Dispatch:
- Hucknall Dispatch:
- Hull Daily Mail:
- Lincolnshire World:
- Lincs Online:
- Liverpool World:
- Liverpool World:
- London Evening Standard:
- London World:
- Luton Today:
- Manchester Evening News:
- Mansfield and Ashfield Chad:
- Medriva:
- Medriva:
- Milton Keynes Citizen:
- MyLondon:
- Newcastle World:
- Nottingham Post:
- Nottinghamshire Live:
- Radio Exe:
- Reading Today:
- Signal1 Radio:
- Southern Daily Echo:
- Suffolk News:
- TFM (Planet Radio):
- Westmoreland Gazette:
- Wigan Today:
- Yahoo! News UK:
- Yahoo! News UK:
- Yahoo! News UK:
- Yahoo! News UK:
In addition, the story was covered across 成人快手 television and radio, including packages by Hugh Pym for 成人快手 Breakfast and Alix Hattenstone for Radio 4’s Today Programme. Questions were put to the health secretary Victoria Atkins on both programmes. 成人快手 South West's 6.30 news programme carried the story, as did news bulletins on Radio 2, Radio 4 and Radio 5. Pieces were broadcast across 16 local radio outlets in total: Yorkshire, Scotland, Ulster, Northampton, Suffolk, Oxford, Three Counties, Surrey, Wiltshire, Nottingham, Lincolnshire, Cumbria, Cambridgeshire, London, Shropshire and Berkshire. On the Sunday following publication the matter was discussed on Politics North.
Data from the project was also used by the 成人快手 England Data Unit during the 2024 general election in its article NHS: Your concerns, questions and stories