MILLIONS of patients are being treated in crumbling hospitals older than the NHS itself, research shows.
More than 2,000 were built before the health service was founded in 1948.
The St Helier Hospital is part of the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust, which has some of the oldest NHS buildings in BritainAlamy
And they face frequent sewage leaks and lift breakdowns.
Among the worst hit is London’s Tavistock and Portman Trust where two-thirds of the buildings predate the NHS.
It is followed by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Bradford Teaching Hospitals.
Lib Dem Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: “It is a national scandal that millions around the country are being treated in old and crumbling hospitals that are no longer fit for purpose.
“Patients and staff deserve the dignity of safe, modern and clean hospitals.
“But instead this Government has shamefully chosen to raid capital budgets for fixing crumbling buildings to plug the gap in day-to-day costs, while hospitals are literally falling apart.”
The Department of Health insisted: “We’re investing record sums to upgrade and modernise NHS buildings, with £4.2 billion invested last year alone, which has helped us achieve the biggest five-month fall in waiting lists in the past 10 years.
“This is on top of expected investment of over £20 billion for the New Hospital Programme – with four hospitals already open and another four due to follow this financial year and a further £1.7 billion for more than 70 hospital upgrades.”
