The Royal Berkshire Healthcare Trust is spending nearly £2 million on urgent repairs to its hospital in Reading, and investigating whether subsidence issues could affect the whole site.
The news comes after the Trust’s chief executive told BBC Radio Berkshire’s breakfast DJ he would prefer to see Royal Berkshire Hospital move to a new site.
The Trust was last month given planning permission to carry out repairs to the North Block of the East Wing. Subsidence has caused floors and walls to crack, while some upper floors and roof suffer from dry rot.
A document submitted to Reading Borough Council says that poor ground conditions are “common” across the hospital site: “Due to localised poor ground conditions (common across the site), the northern end has subsided, evidenced by significant cracking to the walls visible from inside and outside of the building.”
A spokesperson from the healthcare trust said the repairs will cost £1.9 million, and involve work to replace soil worn away by erosion. They added that the Trust is examining the rest of the site to see if more work is needed.
“The work on this unoccupied building is to remedy issues identified by a geological survey we undertook last year as part of the ongoing work around the hospital improvement programme,” they added.
“The work will involve injecting cementitious grouting to replace sub-strata layers which have been eroded over the years by the water table and flow of groundwater. As part of the work, which is costing £1.9m and will be completed next month, we will also be replacing some drains.”
“Alongside this work, we will be carrying out further surveys of the geological strata of the site and will help us inform any future site developments.”
The Royal Berkshire Hospital is among the 40 new hospitals that the government has promised would be built by 2030. The plans have faced delays, with the government and Trust bosses still discussing whether tz stay at the current site, or move elsewhere.
Trust CEO Steve McManus suggested on Wednesday, July 5, that maintenance issues at the current site make moving a better option.
He said: “We’ve clearly got physical estate that consumes levels of maintenance that, in more modern buildings, because of the physical environment, we know that money would be better applied.
“The ability to create a brand-new hospital on a new site would probably give us the best opportunity to use some of that investment to really create a hospital that would stand the test of time.”
