HOSPITALS in Dorset would need an immediate cash injection of £26 million just to bring their facilities up to scratch, new figures have revealed.

The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals (RBCH) require more than £10m worth of repairs. Poole needs even more – £15m – and Dorset County Hospital needs more than £1m in order to prevent "catastrophic" failures and risk to safety.

Data from NHS Digital has revealed that RBCH is currently sitting on a backlog of £11.1m worth of repairs or replacements which should have been carried out on its buildings and equipment.

Around £1.3m worth of the outstanding jobs are classed as 'significant risk' repairs. This means that if the trust doesn't prioritise them soon, they could pose a risk to safety or disrupt the delivery of care.

Examples of maintenance required could include upgrading software on medical equipment, maintaining generators and boilers, and ensuring the structural integrity of buildings.

Over in Poole – which already faces a significant downgrading of its A&E department in the proposed clinical service review – the situation is even more grim. The trust is currently sitting on a backlog of £17.5m worth of repairs or replacements which should have been carried out on its buildings and equipment, with around £196,000 worth of the outstanding jobs classified as 'high risk' repairs.

The cost of "significant risk" repairs – those that could pose a risk to safety or disrupt the delivery of care if not prioritised soon – is £2.4m.

Dorset County Hospital has £8.7m worth of repairs or replacements which should have been carried out on its buildings and equipment with around £1.3m worth of the outstanding works regarded as 'high risk' repairs.

Scrutiny of NHS data shows that the county's hospitals have spent significant sums trying to reduce their backlogs.

Last year, Poole Hospital spent £2.1m on this but its backlog continued to swell, rising by 206 per cent compared with the previous year. Bournemouth spent around a quarter of that, £532k, reducing its backlog although that, too, rose by 22 per cent compared with the previous year.

According to the data, which covers the 12 months to March, problems with the Dorset County Hospital's trust's infrastructure led to 72 incidents where patients were either harmed or put at risk of harm.

Chief analyst at independent health think tank the King’s Fund Siva Anandaciva said: “Continued underinvestment has left some hospitals delivering healthcare in buildings that are quite literally falling apart.

“Deteriorating facilities and unreliable equipment can expose staff and patients to increasing safety risks, and make NHS services less productive as operations and appointments may be cancelled at short notice.”

RBCH said it was "performing well against the national picture".

A spokesman said: "We’re in the best 25 per cent of trusts for all domains.

"We also spend more on maintenance and outperform the national benchmark figure, showing we invest more than the national average for property maintenance.

"The £11.1m backlog is the overall amount required to bring all the hospital occupied areas up to the condition of a new hospital – it includes decoration, flooring, ceilings etc.

"The £1.26m is the amount identified to replace equipment and built assets that are approaching the end of their useful life.

"It’s also the amount we should be and are planning to spend in the short to medium term (there are no high risk areas).

"Over the next 12 months we will be investing in equipment replacement, roof renovations, boiler plant renewal and new fire detection systems.

"As a result both our Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospital sites perform well in external assessments as to how well maintained they are."

George Atkinson, associate director of estates at Poole Hospital, said: “The hospital operates an ongoing maintenance programme to keep facilities in the best possible condition for patients, staff and visitors.

"We are investing approximately £3m over the next year and we have invested £6.1m over the last three years in order to reduce any outstanding maintenance and repair.

"Any that are classified as ‘high risk’ are prioritised to minimise any risk to staff or patients. Current projects include phased works to upgrade fire door and alarm systems, renew boilers, install new lighting and access improvements.

"We ensure all parts of our estate comply with statutory legislation at all times, prioritising the funds available to ensure a safe environment for patients, visitors and staff."