Reinforced Aerated Autoclaved Concrete not disclosed by Northern Care Alliance despite Freedom of Information request from the Liberal Democrats (12/09/23)
The government have confirmed that Reinforced Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (RAAC) is present in the roof of The Royal Oldham hospital. RAAC is the same material that led to the closure of many schools across the country earlier this year, on safety grounds.
The news comes despite Northern Care Alliance – the trust that runs The Royal Oldham Hospital – failing to disclose the existence of RAAC in the building when responding to a Freedom of Information Request submitted by the Liberal Democrats in September and replied to on 4 October 23.
Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “This method of construction was widely used for public buildings for many decades. Concerns about safety were first raised in the early 1990s but no one has done anything about it.”
“After the fiasco in the summer over school buildings, the Liberal Democrats submitted Freedom of Information requests to establish which public buildings in Oldham might have issues with RAAC. This failure to disclose the existence of RAAC at Oldham Royal is just the latest in a long list of reasons why greater scrutiny of Northern Care Alliance is needed.”
On September 12th, the Liberal Democrats asked Northern Care Alliance to provide a full list of NCA buildings which contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, as well as the latest safety assessment of the state of the RAAC for each named site.
In a reply dated October 4th, Northern Care Alliance said that inspections were ongoing, but did not specifically identify any sites containing RAAC.
Councillor Sykes said, “The danger posed by ageing RAAC in public buildings is real. But there is a disturbing lack of clarity about the scale of the problem. The government must urgently reverse cuts to hospital maintenance budgets and take steps to rescue our crumbling hospitals.”
NOTES
Oldham Liberal Democrats have consistently called for the creation of a joint scrutiny panel to provide greater accountability and scrutiny of Northern Care Alliance services. Read more:
Renewed calls for scrutiny of Northern Care Alliance as only 48% of cancer patients seen within two months – Howard Sykes (mycouncillor.org.uk)
FOI response received by Oldham Liberal Democrats
From: Howard Sykes <howard.sykes@oldham.gov.uk>
Sent: 12 September 2023 11:28
FAO: Northern Care Alliance
RE: RAAC in Northern Care Alliance buildings
I would like to make a request for the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please provide a full list of NCA buildings, whether currently open to the public or not, which contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
Where applicable, please also provide information relating to the most recent safety/structural assessment of the state of the RAAC for each named site.
Please acknowledge receipt of this request.
Best wishes.
Councillor Howard Sykes MBE
From: FOIRequest <FreedomofInformationRequests@nca.nhs.uk>
Sent: 04 October 2023 09:55
To: Howard Sykes <howard.sykes@oldham.gov.uk>
Subject: FOI 13169 – Response
Good Morning,
The Trust has now completed collation of data to support a response to your recent Freedom of Information requests for the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust.
Details requested have been attached to this email.
As part of the disclosure log, all responses to Freedom of Information requests are posted on the Trust’s website. Please click on the link below to view the response to your request.
We trust these details will assist with your enquiries. If we can be of any further assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
Questionnaire
As a Trust we are keen to monitor and improve the services we offer. We’d be grateful if you could take the time to answer the following questions and provide us with any other feedback that may assist us with this process:
| Were you satisfied with the handling of your request? | YES/NO |
| Was your request handled in a timely manner? | YES/NO |
| Were you provided with sufficient information to assist you with your request? | YES/NO |
Yours Sincerely
Anisa
Freedom of Information Office
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust
Bury | Oldham | Rochdale | Salford