Hospital building: throwing bricks at design.

Abstract

It's no comfort to patients and staff at the Dukeries Centre in Central Nottinghamshire to know that the spring and early summer of 1980 were the wettest for 30 years. The roof of this seven year old maternity unit leaked and the local CHC said in its 1980 annual report: 'Rain water started to leak slowly into patient areas and has gradually increased into what can only be described as a flood. In nursing areas within the unit plastic dustbins and other large containers have had to be used to collect large amounts of water coming through the roof during rainy weather. This has obviously caused considerable inconvenience to both staff and patients and has made the unit more difficult to keep clean.' Repairs to the roof, totalling 150,000 pounds, are being carried out by the district but not soon enough to stop the water causing deterioration to the fabric of wards. The report says: 'It seems to the CHC that something has gone wrong with either the design or construction of the roof.' To find out how often this sort of problem has occurred in new hospitals over recent years, the Journal's Pauline Drummond conducted a survey of structural defects.