Hospital staff are being trained on how to evacuate Hinchingbrooke Hospital, in Huntingdon, if there is a “significant failure” of the problem concrete used to build the roof.

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) was used to build the hospital roof across 75 per cent of the site.

The lightweight form of concrete was commonly used in construction between the 1950s and mid-1990s.

However, problems with RAAC have emerged in buildings where it was used.

Hinchingbrooke Hospital was built in the 1980s and was only designed to last 30 years.

Structural issues with the concrete in the roof were identified by the hospital in 2018, since then work has taken place to make the hospital safe.

Last month the government confirmed its commitment to replace the hospital building alongside six other hospitals across the country, while the rest of the projects in the New Hospitals Programme were placed under review.

Current plans aim to see the replacement hospital opening in late 2030.

In the meantime, the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, says it undertakes surveys of the RAAC panels annually, to see if any remedial work, or fail safe measures and structural interventions need to be carried out.

A report presented to Cambridgeshire County Council at an adults and health committee meeting this week (October 10) also set out that staff are being trained on how to respond to any RAAC problems, and on how to evacuate the hospital if there is a “significant RAAC failure”.

Deborah Lee, the senior responsible officer for the Hinchingbrooke Hospital redevelopment programme, told councillors that the RAAC concrete was the highest risk on the Trust’s risk register.

She said there is an “extensive programme of inspections” and that they were ensuring the building remains safe for patients and staff.

Ms Lee explained that the strategic outline business case for the new hospital had been approved, but added that there was still more work to do before construction work could begin.

A timeline presented to the meeting estimated that the full business case should be agreed in spring 2027, enabling procurement and construction work to start later that year.

Under the current estimates the opening date for the new hospital has been set for late 2030.

However, Ms Lee added that although this was the plan they were all working to, she said there is a “fair amount of risk” and said she wanted “to be clear about that as well”.