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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Gregory Health editor

Sewage leak figures prompt warning over state of England’s hospitals

Princess Alexandra hospital
An ambulance outside the Princess Alexandra hospital in Essex. The hospital trust recorded 40 sewage leaks. Photograph: Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty Images

Hospitals in England have recorded more than 450 sewage leaks in the last 12 months, data shows, putting patients and staff in danger and prompting warnings that the NHS estate is “falling apart” after a decade of underinvestment.

Freedom of information requests to NHS trusts by the Liberal Democrats found alarming examples of sewage leaking on to cancer wards, maternity units and A&E departments. The investigation also uncovered multiple cases of urine and faeces flowing into hospital rooms and on to general wards.

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