Two ceilings collapse at crumbling hospital

Patients in critical care unit affected as situation described as 'dangerous'

- HELENA VESTY

PATIENTS were led to safety and scans cancelled after two ceilings collapsed within a day of one another at a crumbling Greater Manchester hospital.

Stepping Hill Hospital has suffered two ceiling collapses in recent weeks because of heating system leaks.

The collapses came inside the radiology department and in the critical care unit, where seriously ill patients receive high-dependency treatment.

The Stockport hospital has long been struggling with its ageing buildings becoming increasingly decrepit, and the continued major structural concerns are being called 'dangerous for both patients and staff!

The two ceiling collapses follow the 'immediate' complete closure of the hospital's Outpatient B department in November, which the M.E.N. reported.

The closure came because of a 'significant deterioration of the structure of the building, according to inspectors.

That outpatient unit is now only providing 51 per cent of the outpatient appointments it should. Some of the services that were provided in the Outpatient B unit are now operating at less than the previous capacity.