Wards have been closed at the Archway hospital while remedial works take place

SENIOR fire chiefs warned the top brass at the Whittington Hospital that patients had been left at “significant risk of injury or death by fire” for the past eight years, while setting a deadline of two weeks to make its premises safe.

An archaic alarm system, emergency exits blocked by beds and a failure to make a series of changes following a hospital blaze in 2018 were cited in the Fire Safety Commissioner’s enforcement notice to the NHS trust. The notice, first issued in October, has not been made public yet but has been obtained by the Tribune following a Freedom of Information request.

Wards have since been closed while remedial works take place and the hospital says patients are no longer at risk due to measures including fire safety guards keeping a “24-hour watch” on two blocks. But with a large amount of work to be done still it is understood the hospital is unlikely to meet a final deadline of April 30 set by the brigade, which is now threatening legal action as a last resort.

One of the key problems is that the affected blocks have not been “compartmental­ised” in a way that would stop smoke spreading throughout the main building.

“In the event of a fire, smoke and fire can spread rapidly throughout the premises. This can lead to relevant persons being put at significant risk of injury or death by fire,” said assistant fire safety commissioner Craig Carter’s notice to the Whittington.

“The commissioner would strongly urge that you consider the presence of combustible façade cladding materials as part of the risk assessment process for these premises.”

An original deadline of December to make the changes had been extended to April. It said: “If at the end of the time limit the matters have not been rectified, further extensions of time will not be granted, except in exceptional circum­stances, and consideration may be given to the initiation of legal proceedings.”

The Tribune reported in December that wards at the hospital were being shut down in two blocks as part of a major programme to make the building safe.

The blocks where the serious fire risk has been identified were only built just over 20 years ago through a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deal that was supposed to include maintenance as part of the package. The Whittington is in a legal dispute with administrators of the collapsed PFI scheme after it stopped making payments saying the company had failed to honour it contractual obligations.

The administrator of the PFI is suing the Whittington for backing out of the contract that was supposed to keep going until 2039.

The enforcement notice raises red flags about Block A and Block L in the hospital. It lists issues ranging from broken lights to flammable mat­eri­als in the boiler room.

“It was found that the current fire alarm system does not meet the required L1 Category system for hospitals,” the notice said. “A fire may go unnoticed and undetected delaying the activation of your fire alarm system, this can lead to relevant persons being put at significant risk of injury or death by fire.”

Escape routes were blocked by trolleys and also “overgrown foliage” that could lead to “relevant persons becoming trapped within the premises.”

A spokesperson for Whittington Health said it had already replaced fire doors, a comprehensive upgrade to the fire detection and alarm system, and built a “decant ward facility”.

The pace of work was being balanced against “the practicalities of undertaking significant, invasive, and highly disruptive construction works in clinical areas, wards and our ITU in block A”.

They added: “Our hospital is safe for staff, patients, and visitors to use. We are aware of deficiencies in the fire safety infrastructure within the fabric of the PFI buildings because of failures by our former PFI provider.”

The trust said the London Fire Brigade was aware and overseeing the programme.