Prominent Harrogate Lib Dem hands in petition over the town’s 'crumbling' hospital and £20 million funding gap

Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Harrogate & Knaresborough, travelled to London to hand in a letter and petition signed by hundreds of local residents calling for the Government to provide the funding needed to tackle RAAC, known as crumbling concrete, at Harrogate District Hospital.

In September, NHS England issued a letter to all 224 health trusts across England in which it warned hospitals to be ready to evacuate staff and patients if buildings containing concrete at risk of collapse start to fall down.

A survey of Harrogate District Hospital’s estate found 2,500 RAAC panels and concluded that repair work had been completed on 12 "high-risk" panels with some theatres and corridors in the hospital made safe with props.

The report added that further propping might be needed of panels that remained in danger of collapsing.

Last month, Lib Dem MP Richard Foord called for Harrogate District Hospital to be given the £20 million it needs to make repairs.

In his statement about Harrogate Hospital, Mr Foord said that, instead of being required to bid for the funding, the Government should allocate Harrogate the money for repairs.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey MP raised the issue directly with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at PMQs in the House of Commons.

Tom Gordon said: “The Conservative government can’t even keep the roof over patients' heads safe, let alone run a health service that gets people the treatment that they deserve on time.

"It is simply not good enough that staff at Harrogate Hospital are working in such an environment and that patients are treated in a property where props are required to hold up the ceiling to stop the potential collapse of the building.

"Harrogate District Hospital must be granted funding immediately so that it can get rid of the RAAC and focus on with treating patients instead.

"It cannot be right that the hospital trust has to bid for money with no guarantee they’ll receive it.”