RAAC in the NHS Estate

Karin Smyth Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Secondary Care (Karin Smyth)]

Today I wish to update the House on the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in the NHS estate. RAAC is a type of concrete that is prone to collapse and needs replacing.

As the Chancellor announced on 30 October, over £1 billion will be invested to tackle dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) and make inroads into the existing backlog of critical maintenance, repairs, and upgrades across the NHS estate. This Budget will begin delivering on our promise of change for the NHS. It will take time, but we are beginning to rebuild the health service to make it fit for the future.

We are committed to removing RAAC from the NHS estate as a priority. The NHS has been surveying hospital sites to identify the presence of RAAC since 2019. As of 3 October 2024, there are 47 hospital sites in England with confirmed RAAC, a reduction of seven since February of this year. To date, RAAC has been completely eradicated at 13 hospital sites and further sites will have eradicated RAAC this financial year. The published list of sites on gov.uk has been updated accordingly and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-in-hospitals-management-information The full list of sites with RAAC as well as eradications can also be found in the table below.

Once the presence of RAAC is confirmed at a hospital site, the trust joins NHS England’s national RAAC programme. This programme has delivered mitigation, safety, and eradication works across all hospital sites with confirmed RAAC to keep facilities safe and open and is working to remove RAAC fully from the NHS estate.

The Chancellor reiterated in her autumn Budget statement that the seven identified hospitals in England constructed wholly or primarily from RAAC in the new hospital programme will proceed at pace, due to substantive safety risks associated with these. These schemes were out of scope of the recent NHP review and have continued to their existing delivery timeframes.

These seven hospitals continue to receive funding and support to ensure patient and staff safety from NHS England’s national RAAC programme ahead of the delivery of replacement hospitals. Keeping capacity open but being scrupulous about RAAC monitoring and mitigation until the RAAC can be removed is fully in line with the current evidence and recommendations of the Institution of Structural Engineers.