Collapsing ceilings, loose wires and flooded corridors – the pictures of Stepping Hill Hospital everyone should see

Shocking pictures have captured a scene of devastation at Stepping Hill Hospital after patients were forced to evacuate when ceilings collapsed.

The hospital suffered leaks, heating failures and collapsed buildings amid years of neglect. Now pictures have shown the extent of the problem, showing a flooded corridor and an intensive care unit in disarray.

A picture from the hospital, which is in the Cheadle constituency and has been owned by the Tories since 2015, shows a dark corridor covered in wet sheets, which have been placed on the floors to try to soak up the water. Another is of a critical care unit with water raining through the ceiling panels and brown liquid stains on the floor.

A sheet appears bolted to the floor, while water drenches the screens and wires usually connected to medical equipment. The photos were taken in March, when the hospital saw two ceilings fall in due to leaking heating systems, the Mirror reports.

The collapses occurred in the premises of the radiology department and the intensive care unit. Critically ill patients are receiving intensive and highly addictive treatments in wards, while dozens of procedures and scheduled appointments have been cancelled. The evacuated patients were initially treated in operating rooms, but some were later transferred to a nearby hospital.

No one was injured but the hospital trust apologized to the families and their families for the inconvenience caused. Stepping Hill, which was founded in 1905, has long suffered from serious infrastructure problems, but the hospital’s bid to become one of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s promised “40 new hospitals” was rejected in 2019.

Its B Outpatient Clinic was closed last November due to “significant structural damage to the building”, with appointments being diverted elsewhere. In May, the building was finally bulldozed after it was deemed structurally unsafe by inspectors.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, whose party is targeting the constituency at the election, said he was “staggered” when he visited the hospital earlier this month. “When I went around, I was stunned, that an entire facility had to be shut down because it wasn’t safe and there was no real plan to deal with it,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“There were so many other issues that were shown to me that urgently needed to be addressed, I couldn’t believe there wasn’t a capital program for that. We talked about hospitals collapsing, Stepping Hill being one of them, but there are quite a few around the country.”

The Lib Dem candidate for the area, Tom Morrison is a Lib Dem, added: “We had a Tory MP and in that time Stepping Hill Hospital went downhill, the B Outpatient Unit had to close, the ICU had to close because the roof was coming in . Has a Tory MP changed that?

Speaking about the photos, Lib Dem Health spokeswoman Daisy Cooper said: “It is shocking. Patients and staff are at risk in hospitals which are crumbling after years of neglect and underfunding by the Tories. These images are the legacy of this failed Conservative Party and proof that the NHS cannot be trusted.

“Ministers should hang their heads in shame for the way they have left Stepping Hill Hospital to rot. The people of Stockport deserve better than this. Stepping Hill Hospital needs emergency funding to protect patients and staff before anyone is hurt.”

A Stockport NHS Foundation Trust said: “Unfortunately, a heat pump fault in the roof of our ICU/HDU area resulted in a water leak and damage to the ceiling during March and several patients had to be moved in alternate beds while the area was secured. Families were kept informed of these movements. We apologize to all patients and families for the inconvenience caused.”

The Department of Health and Social Care has pointed to figures which show that in 2020-21 Stockport NHS Foundation Trust received £3.61m for Stepping Hill Hospital and £4.8m from its risk fund for critical infrastructure to address the hospital maintenance backlog. This is in addition to £30.6 million for a new urgent care campus.