\n Inverclyde<\/a> and Renfrewshire West MP Martin McCluskey has hit out at the neglect and demanded urgent action to protect the IRH.\n<\/p>\n \n He said: \u201cThis lays bare the neglect of Inverclyde Royal Hospital under the SNP<\/a> Government.\n<\/p>\n \n “For nearly 19 years they have allowed the repair bill to mount up instead of taking the action needed to protect our hospital.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cStaff shouldn\u2019t have to work in these conditions and patients shouldn\u2019t have to be cared for in wards with leaky windows and faulty equipment. It\u2019s a disgrace. ”\n<\/p>\n \n By far the largest spend outlined on the maintenance list is the \u00a371m sum which needs to be spent on restoring the building\u2019s external fabric.\n<\/p>\n \n \n The infirmary\u2019s aluminium single glazed windows are said to have passed their expiration date, with some now leaking.\n<\/p>\n \n The information handed over by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) also shows that window sills \u2018throughout the hospital\u2019 are damaged internally, with the window\u2019s seals expired, while the brickwork is described as being porous.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n The proposed solution is to install new cladding on all of the building\u2019s elevations.\n<\/p>\n \n Mr McCluskey added: “This is a serious risk to the IRH. We were promised full replacement of the facade by 2026, but the Scottish Government still haven\u2019t funded this work. ”\n<\/p>\n \n He accused the Scottish Government of \u2018choosing Glasgow over Greenock<\/a>\u2019 and called on First Minister John Swinney<\/a> to apologise to the people of Inverclyde.\n<\/p>\n \n \n Martin McCluskey added: “This can\u2019t go on. The Scottish Government has record funding from the UK Government this year, with more on the way.\n<\/p>\n \n “Where is it going? And why isn\u2019t it finding its way to our hospital?\n<\/p>\n \n “Inverclyde can\u2019t afford another five years of SNP government – all it will mean for our local hospital is even more decline.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n The Tele has previously reported that watchdog Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) had set a deadline of 2026 to replace the windows and facade at the hospital.\n<\/p>\n \n Two years ago, HIS and Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board reached an agreement that the work would be carried out by next year.\n<\/p>\n \n But the Scottish Government has yet to confirm the funding required for the work to take place.\n<\/p>\n \n \n The watchdog had heav\u00adily cri\u00adti\u00adcised the state of parts of the hos\u00adpital in a report pub\u00adlished in Feb\u00adru\u00adary 2023.\n<\/p>\n \n They were crit\u00adical of the build\u00ading and the need for repairs, and in their report pub\u00adlished four months after an unan\u00adnounced visit to the facil\u00adity they deman\u00added action from the health board.\n<\/p>\n \n A business case has been put to the Scottish Government by NHS GGC for the major work, which the freedom of information request reveals would now cost \u00a371m.\n<\/p>\n \n Under-pressure health chiefs who are waiting for a decision on the application say that they have committed \u00a34.3m of investment to the hospital’s decontamination unit.\n<\/p>\n \n They also pointed to a rolling programme of work being carried out at the hospital.\n<\/p>\n \n In October this year we revealed that it would cost \u00a3117m to bring the IRH up to the standard of a new facility.\n<\/p>\n \n Just two months on, that bill now stands at \u00a3121m.\n<\/p>\n \n An NHSGGC spokesperson said: “We are committed to caring for our patients in an environment that is appropriate for their needs.\n<\/p>\n \n “We have made a long-term commitment to improvement works at Inverclyde Royal Hospital (IRH), including internal works which commenced in September and investing \u00a34.3m in the decontamination unit.\n<\/p>\n \n “We also have a rolling programme of maintenance and replacement at IRH and across the NHSGGC estate.\n<\/p>\n \n “As part of this programme, we have submitted a business case for replacement of the exterior envelope at the IRH to the Scottish Government and we await the outcome of this application.”\n<\/p>\n \n A Scottish Government spokesperson said: A Scottish Government spokesperson said: \u201cWe are working closely with the health board to support the best quality healthcare facilities for patients and staff.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cThis year we are providing more than \u00a31 billion for capital investment, with \u00a3140 million additional funding targeted at high-risk areas of maintenance and repair of the existing estate, essential equipment, and digital replacement.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cWe have agreed to fund the design work for replacing the hospital\u2019s fa\u00e7ade and will make a decision on funding the facade replacement when the design is complete and full costs are known.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cDecisions on the Scottish Budget will be laid out on 13 January 2026.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A freedom of information (FOI) request has laid bare the full extent of the hospital’s \u00a3121 million repair…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-317689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The IRH repair backlog has a value of \u00a3121 million. (Image: George Munro)\n<\/p>\n
The cost of carrying out all the repairs required at the IRH now stands at an eye-watering \u00a3121 million. (Image: George Munro)\n<\/p>\n
Inverclyde Royal Hospital Martin McCluskey (Image: George Munro)\n<\/p>\n