Patient safety is at risk at crumbling Stepping Hill Hospital, NHS bosses say as they make an urgent appeal for government funding. The Stockport site has seen significant upgrades in recent years, including new multi-million-pound emergency and outpatient departments, but much of the estate requires major work. Many areas are decrepit after 121 years of treating patients.
Stepping Hill, which first opened in 1905, employs around 6,300 staff and sees over 91,000 patient admissions a year. It is run by Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.
Wards 'falling apart' and buildings 'need to be condemned'
One medic says wards are 'falling apart', claiming some buildings 'need to be condemned'. Patients sometimes have to be transferred elsewhere or have surgeries cancelled, they add, with the 'snowball effect' making waiting times worse.
Pictures inside show disintegrating walls, leaking roofs, and precarious floors. Damp plagues areas of the estate, water trickles from windows when it rains, and some staircases are closed. One ward is completely shut due to roof issues, while the floor on one busy corridor is 'in danger of collapsing'. Steam from the pipes below is rotting floorboards. One cramped staff toilet is used by 30 people.
Bosses say major issues occur five or six times a year
Bosses say there is a major issue five or six times a year. Smaller scale problems crop up weekly. Staff joke when it rains, they'll need to get the buckets out. In 2024, 63 per cent of the hospital's estate was deemed to be in 'poor' or 'bad' condition.
While people have praised 'excellent' staff, one visitor said Stepping Hill is in a 'death spiral', adding: "If you were a newly qualified doctor and if you had a choice, would you choose to go to a hospital that is falling down?"
Past incidents and funding gap
Two years ago, one of the major outpatient buildings was condemned and demolished. Then there were two 'unexpected and unrelated' ceiling collapses at the radiology department and critical care units. Bosses pleaded for extra funding from the government, but no commitment was made from ministers. Over the years, Stepping Hill chiefs have repeatedly pleaded for cash to bring things up to scratch.
At present, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust estimates it will cost more than £134m just to maintain current buildings at a basic level over the next five years, outstripping the £118m of government funding announced so far. Ideally, hospital bosses want around £400m to properly address the wealth of issues. They say money would be saved in the long term.
Leaders and MPs react
Chief operating officer Jackie McShane said: "If we do not do something soon in this organisation, we will have significant failings in corridors. I can't stress this enough. This is not just about our patient experience."
Karen James OBE, chief executive, added: "We have an immediate problem we need to take action on. I think we have got to be one of the worst. There are other hospitals that do have challenges, but I just think looking across Greater Manchester, we are one of the worst hospitals from an estate point of view.
"These challenges are significant. We have got lifts that are so old, when they break down we can't get spare parts. Those are the lifts that take people up to theatre and back again. Sometimes we can't get patients up to the theatre in a timely manner. In terms of the ward areas, we have got water coming through some of our ceilings and therefore we have to move patients out of ward areas to ensure we maintain their safety. On a daily basis we have got huge issues. You can see if you walk around the hospital we have got things holding ceilings up at the moment."
Jules Wilkinson, whose daughter Cora was born at the hospital, said a lamp hanging from the ceiling fell down, nearly hitting the midwife. He had to hold it up while his wife gave birth. "It's so tired but at the same time it's almost in a death spiral," Mr Wilkinson added. "At this point, how do you rebuild? How do you fix it? To use the cliché, it's root and branch. If you were a newly qualified nurse, would you choose to go to Stepping Hill? If you were a newly qualified doctor and if you had a choice, would you choose to go to a hospital that is falling down?"
Stockport Lib Dem MPs Tom Morrison and Lisa Smart have called for a Parliamentary debate on the issue. Mr Morrison said: "I am horrified by what we have seen. We have seen the staff here who are incredible working in the worst possible conditions. It just seems to get worse and worse. This is the worst I have seen it. At points I got emotional walking through here because quite frankly, the staff deserve so much better, the patients deserve so much better. We are not asking for the world here. We are asking for a hospital that's fit for purpose and it's unbelievable it hasn't happened yet."
Stockport Labour MP Navendu Mishra added: "I want our staff to have reliable modern buildings. It's not acceptable in the sixth largest economy that we have people working in such buildings. I regularly use Stepping Hill myself, I know it well. Staff tell me about the issues they are facing. They want to deliver high quality care but they can only do so much when the buildings are falling apart."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "This government inherited an overstretched NHS with huge waiting lists and the hospital estate left to crumble. Whilst decisions about local services are a matter for the local NHS, we are providing the investment and modernisation needed to get patients the care they deserve, in hospital buildings fit for purpose. In September we confirmed £26m of funding to deliver a new pathology building at Stepping Hill, as well as a further £17m for maintenance and repair schemes, through the estates safety fund – part of £1.5bn confirmed investment so far for projects to address urgent maintenance problems across the NHS estate. Through our 10 Year Capital Plan, we will continue investing in the NHS buildings and facilities staff and patients need, helping build a health service that is fit for the future."
