As part of our commitment to improving fire safety across the Trust, we have made steady progress to the upgrades across our estate since the summer.
Fire safety is one of our big five Trust priorities for this financial year and work commenced in July. We estimate that the total cost of the work will be around £46m and roll over the next three years as part of our capital works projects. We’ve committed to spending around £12 million this financial year alone and some of the major improvements already made as part of this are as follows:
- All theatre fire doors replaced at Grantham and Lincoln, with replacement works at Pilgrim commenced in November (£775k). 162 other fire doors replaced at Lincoln, 147 at Pilgrim and around 100 at Grantham.
- Around £500k has been invested in compartmentation works (fire resisting barriers behind the walls to provide a minimum of one hour protection) on ward 9a at Pilgrim, in addition to £1.9 million spent on high risk areas across the Trust such as electrical cupboards and basements.
- £80k spent on lift lobby and rear staircase fire door replacements at Lincoln maternity unit and £250k compartmentation works on Lincoln’s Greetwell and Hatton wards.
- Fire panel and emergency lighting upgrades have also taken place in all areas and departments across Pilgrim.
There has also been an increased focus on fire safety training and we’d like to thank all staff who have attended their fire evacuation training across all sites. We’re pleased to report that over 65% of all staff have now received their training.
The very nature of all of the above work is extremely expensive and upgrades will continue into the New Year and beyond. It is essential if the Trust is to keep patients and staff as safe as possible and fire safety aware at all times.