THIRD WORLD UK
Sewage spilled into Croydon NHS hospitals 45 times during the past year

Amy Clarke
Thu, 23 February 2023 

The trust is responsible for the Croydon University Hospital and Purley Memorial Hospital (Image: Maps)

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust has reported 45 cases of sewage spewing into its hospital during last year alone.

The trust is responsible for the Croydon University Hospital and Purley Memorial Hospital.

These figures come from a Freedom of Information request by the Liberal Democrats, and which have uncovered the reported leaks between January and December 2022.

READ MORE: CQC praises improvement at Croydon University Hospital

The Liberal Democrats have said that the leaks are a sign that the country’s hospitals “are falling apart after years of underinvestment and neglect”.

Croydon Health Services NHS trust said that its “teams work hard to facilities are always running to a good standard”.

NHS trusts recorded a total of 456 leaks between January and December 2022 across England.

Only 55 NHS hospital trusts responded to Freedom of Information requests about sewage leaks, meaning just over a third responded.

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust saw the highest amount of sewage leaks in the figures from across the London trusts.

Commenting on the figures, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman told the Daily Mail: 'While individual NHS organisations are legally responsible for maintaining their estates, we are investing record sums to upgrade and modernise NHS buildings so staff have the facilities needed to provide world-class care – including £4.2billion this year and £8.4billion over the next two years.

“More widely, we have invested £3.7billion for the first four years of the New Hospital Programme and remain committed to all schemes that have been announced as part of it.”

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “This is a national scandal. Our country’s hospitals are falling apart after years of underinvestment and neglect.

“Patients should not be treated in these conditions and heroic nurses should not have the indignity of mopping up foul sewage.

“At every turn, our treasured NHS is crumbling, from hospital buildings to dangerous ambulance wait times.”

A spokesperson for Croydon Health Services said: “Our teams work hard to ensure our facilities are always running to a good standard, and of the reports made last year, fewer than 0.3% were related to leaks in toilet areas, sometimes due to misuse, which were quickly responded to and resolved.”