Hospital must make immediate fire safety changes

A hospital has been told it must make changes "immediately" to improve its fire safety measures following an inspection in July.

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust was issued an enforcement notice by the fire service in relation to floors four to eight of Torbay Hospital's Tower Block.

Devon and Somerset Fire Service said changes were needed to provide "sufficient escape routes for people in the event of a fire," stressing these must be made by 6 November. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has also inspected the building and proposed to take regulatory action.

A spokesperson for the hospital trust said it was "fully committed to meeting the requirements of the notice".

The statement said the trust continues to work closely with authorities on a plan to "temporarily relocate some services based in the Tower Block to other locations in Torbay Hospital and to Trust sites in our communities".

It said this will help to "reduce the number of inpatients being cared for in parts of the Tower Block" and ensure a safe evacuation in the event of fire.

It noted no relocations will take place until a plan has been agreed.

The fire service statement said: "Torbay Hospital must make changes immediately to make sure people can escape during a fire, after warnings from both fire and health regulators."

Its enforcement notice asks for the trust to put actions in place to reduce the numbers of patients on each floor, increase the number of staff capable of completing an evacuation and to assess any dependencies patients may have and relocate those who would be difficult to evacuate, the fire service said.

Gerald Taylor, deputy chief fire officer for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, said people being treated within the Tower Block were "often in circumstances that make it difficult for them to evacuate, and the building itself would make this harder".

He added: "As a regulator of the Fire Safety Order, we have a duty to ensure that public buildings have precautions in place to protect people if there is a fire."

Taylor said Torbay Hospital "must address these issues and make sure that the people under their care have every chance of escape should a fire occur in the building".

A CQC spokesperson said it has "proposed taking regulatory action for the oversight of fire safety processes, which the trust has the right to appeal".

It said details of any action taken, would be included in its inspection report when it was published.

In a letter to Health and Social Care secretary Yvette Cooper, Torbay MP Steve Darling warned the measures could result in the closure of beds in the Tower Block and put the "disaster" down to the government's "failure to adequately invest in the hospital".

He added: "We need a commitment of at least £8 million to make our Tower Block safer."

MP for South Devon Caroline Voaden said she was confident the measures would not result in any changes to the quality-of-care patients receive.

"Our healthcare professionals are doing incredible work in trying circumstances," she said.

"The time is long overdue for the government to give our NHS the resources needed to create the working conditions staff and patients deserve."

The hospital trust said: "Torbay Hospital is among some of the country's oldest NHS estate and the Tower Block is an ageing building with known estate and fire safety risks linked to its age, design and condition.

"The safety of our staff, patients and visitors remains our priority and we have strengthened safety measures, alongside £1.8 million of government funding for further fire safety improvements."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said they expected "every trust to take all necessary steps as a matter of urgency to protect their patients".

They said they inherited a "broken NHS with many hospital buildings in a dangerous state of disrepair" and was providing "£6.75bn across the country through the Estates Safety Fund to ensure safe environments for healthcare delivery".

It said after "years of delays" Torbay Hospital is "on a realistic and sustainable footing to be rebuilt as part of the New Hospital Programme".

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