Near £5m funding bid as cash is sought to pay for removal of Teesside hospital trust’s RAAC material

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) was identified last year in seven building blocks at the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, five of which are used as offices and two for staff accommodation, along with a lecture theatre.

Work to reinforce the structures and make the buildings safe were completed in March at a cost of about £1m from the organisation’s own capital budget programme.

Hospital chiefs have since submitted a £4.9m bid to NHS England to cover the cost of removing the material at the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, which would be phased over four years.

RAAC was commonly used in roofing and wall construction within the public sector between the 1950 and 1990s.

The government previously warned its life expectancy had expired with the risk that buildings could collapse without warning.

Last year it ordered remedial measures be taken in instances where it had been identified following inspections, which led to the temporary closure of more than a hundred schools, with the likes of hospitals and court buildings also affected.

The North Tees trust has stressed there was never any risk to patients and no disruption to clinical services has resulted.

A spokesman said removal of the RAAC “would be subject to the bid being approved” with no timescale having been provided as to when a decision may be made.

Last year, the Department Health and Social Care said £698m of funding was available for hospital trusts to put in place “necessary remediation and failsafe measures”.