Water leaked into Inverclyde Royal Hospital after heavy rain

A health board has committed to improvement works at an aging hospital that has ongoing water leak problems during heavy rain.

Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board said an incident last Friday at Inverclyde Royal Hospital was due to a "severe and sudden" amount of rain on the day.

It followed previous concerns that the hospital was susceptible to water ingress, with reports earlier this year of patients being moved from wards.

The health board said no wards were impacted by the leakages last week.

Previous correspondence between the health board and the area's MP revealed five wards had "longstanding and intermittent" issues with water getting in.

In 2023, a Health Improvement Scotland report found parts of the facility - which opened in 1979 - had leaking windows broken, wooden doors that were damp and damaged walls.

An action plan was established to fix the issues with a deadline of 2026.

However, no work has yet been announced, with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde saying "a strategic assessment" was being finalised over the next two months.

This will then be analysed and assessed by the Scottish government's finance and infrastructure team and the health board's own corporate management team.

The repairs backlog is expected to cost millions.

Martin McCluskey, the Labour MP for Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West, said the recent leakages had "exposed problems that have been known about for years."

He added: "Information I obtained from the health board confirmed recurring and intermittent water ingress across several wards, with patients having to be moved following leaks.

"That is simply not good enough. Patients should never have to access emergency care through floodwater and staff should never have to provide treatment in a hospital that is no longer consistently watertight.

"Instead of delivering permanent repairs, the Health Board has been forced to rely on temporary measures while major capital decisions remain outstanding."

A spokesperson for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: "Following a severe and sudden volume of rainfall on Friday afternoon, there was water ingress in some areas of Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

"Estates teams attended promptly and remained on site until the situation was fully addressed."

The spokesperson said water dripping into parts of the building had not disrupted services, and that the health board was committed to improvement works in the long term.

Inspectors said in the 2023 report that the health board told them that the age of the hospital building meant there were challenges in completing remedial work to walls and floors because of the presence of asbestos.

The Scottish government said it was accelerating work to improve the exterior of the hospital within its capital budget programme.

Health Secretary Angela Constance said: "I am concerned by scenes like this - patients and staff should not have to deal with flooding to access or deliver healthcare."