Cladding safety fears forces Oxford hospital trauma unit to close

A hospital in Oxford is shutting its trauma unit after fire safety checks carried out after the Grenfell Tower disaster revealed that its cladding was dangerous.

The John Radcliffe hospital is the first to have to transfer patients to other buildings as a result of checks which every NHS hospital trust in England has carried out since the Grenfell fire. It is moving 52 patients to other buildings.

In a statement, the Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said the trauma unit had to close because it had been judged to be ‘currently unsuitable for patients’.

The trauma unit will be shut for up to a year while remedial work is carried out. Less seriously ill patients will be discharged to free space for the trauma patients.

The outpatient unit on the building’s ground floor could safely remain in use while improvements were carried out, and its upper floors could still be used as office and storage space, the trust said.

Flammable cladding has been found at six other hospitals in England and remedial works ordered.

Cladding on an inpatient unit at New Cross hospital in Wolverhampton failed a combustibility test. However, NHS Improvement agreed that it was safe for staff to continue treating patients there during action to tackle the problem.

The trust said: “On Thursday 27 July Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust received a report on fire safety in the trauma unit at the John Radcliffe hospital. The report was written by Trenton Fire whom the trust commissioned to make recommendations about the trauma unit following a review of fire safety of cladded buildings on our four main hospital sites in Oxfordshire after the tragic events at Grenfell Tower.

“An extraordinary Board Meeting was held on Thursday 27 July, and a decision made in light of the report’s recommendations, to plan to move the 52 inpatient beds from the trauma unit to wards within the John Radcliffe hospital. The trust is putting its contingency planning in place and preparing the wards to receive patients from the trauma unit.

“The trust is working closely with Oxfordshire County Council and Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group to identify beds in the community for patients who have already been assessed as ready to go home, to help free up beds.

“In the meantime, the existing additional fire safety measures put in place when the trauma unit was first raised as an area of possible risk are being maintained.”