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Grenfell Tower: Buildings in three NHS trusts have failed fire safety tests after fatal blaze

NHS regulator ordered trusts in England to carry out tests on their external cladding following the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower

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The Independent Online
A worker removes cladding from a residential tower block in Cranford in west London,
The cladding on one of the buildings has already been removed REUTERS

Buildings at three separate NHS trusts have so far failed fire safety tests in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Regulator NHS Improvement said tests of cladding samples from buildings belonging to King's College Hospital Foundation Trust, Sheffield Children's Foundation Trust and North Middlesex University Hospitals Trust have failed combustibility tests.

The tests were ordered in the wake of the fire at the west London tower block which killed at least 80 people last month. 

NHS Improvement said 38 trusts requested help in carrying out a fire safety tests after it wrote to all providers in England asking them to check on 19 June.

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Of these 19 have had fire safety inspections and a review of their fire procedures which NHS Improvement said means they need no further action at this stage.

Another 11 have had their cladding tested and found it is not made of the flammable aluminium composite material (ACM) which is believed to have helped spread the Grenfell Tower fire so quickly. 

A further five organisations are still waiting for the results of their combustibility tests. 

The buildings affected are believed to be an office block and two outpatient clients. 

In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire

In Pictures: Grenfell Tower after the fire

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    Police have released images from inside the tower where at least 58 people have died

    Metropolitan Police

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    A still from a video shared by polices what appears to be a stationary bicycle sitting among the ashes

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    A still from a video shared by police shows the remnants of a burnt-out bathroom

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    Picture showing the lifts on an unknown floor

    Metropolitan Police

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    Emergency crews outside the front entrance to the tower

    Metropolitan Police

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    Fire crews inspecting flats in the burnt out tower

    London Metropolitan Police

  • 7/51

    Grenfell Tower is seen in the distance

    PA

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    A drone flies near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block

    REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

  • 9/51

    'Theresa May Stay Away' message written on the messages of support at Latymer Community Church for those affected by the fire

    Ray Tang/REX

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    An aerial view of the area surrounding Grenfall tower

    Getty

  • 11/51

    Donated shoes sit in the Westway Sports Centre near to the site of the Grenfell Tower fire

    Getty Images

  • 12/51

    Messages of support for those affected by the massive fire in Grenfell Tower are displayed on a well near the tower in London

    AP

  • 13/51

    A local resident stands on her balcony by the gutted Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road

    Getty Images

  • 14/51

    Messages of condolence are left at a relief centre close to the scene of the fire that broke out at Grenfell Tower,

    EPA

  • 15/51

    A police officer stands by a security cordon outside Latimer Road station

    Getty Images

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    Firemen examine the scorched facade of the Grenfell Tower in London on a huge ladder

    AP

  • 17/51

    A search dog is led through the rubble of the Grenfell Tower in London as firefighting continue to damp-down the deadly fire

    AP

  • 18/51

    Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn comforts a local resident (name not given) at St Clement's Church in west London where volunteers have provided shelter and support for people affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower

    David Mirzoeff/PA

  • 19/51

    Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn hugs councillor Mushtaq Lasharie as he arrives at St Clement's Church in Latimer Road, where volunteers have provided shelter and support for people affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower

    Getty Images

  • 20/51

    Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn meeting staff and volunteers at St Clementís Church in Latimer Road

    David Mirzoeff/PA

  • 21/51

    Firefighters with a dog walk around the base of the Grenfell Tower

    REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

  • 22/51

    Emotions run high as people attend a candle lit vigil outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near the 24 storey residential Grenfell Tower block in Latimer Road, West London

    Getty Images

  • 23/51

    Debris hangs from the blackened exterior of Grenfell Tower

    Getty Images

  • 24/51

    A woman speaks to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building

    Yui Mok/PA Wire

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    A woman holds a missing person posters near the Grenfell Tower block

    REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

  • 26/51

    Sadiq Khan speaking with a resident

    James Gourley/REX

  • 27/51

    Ken Livingstone walks near the scene of the Grenfell Tower fire

    Getty Images

  • 28/51

    Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is confronted by Kai Ramos, 7, near Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building

    Yui Mok/PA Wire

  • 29/51

    Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks to a woman outside Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower

    Yui Mok/PA Wire

  • 30/51

    Volunteers distribute aid near Grenfell Tower

    Getty Images

  • 31/51

    Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower

    EPA

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    Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower

    EPA

  • 33/51

    Family and friends of missing Jessica Urbano, 12, wearing photographs of Jessica pinned to their t-shirts gather near Grenfell Tower

    EPA

  • 34/51

    People attend a vigil at Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower

    Getty Images

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    People gather to observe a vigil outside St Clement's Church following the blaze at Grenfell Tower

    Getty Images

  • 36/51

    People light candles as they observe a vigil outside St Clement's Church following the blaze at Grenfell Tower

    Getty Images

  • 37/51

    People attend a vigil at Notting Hill Methodist Church near Grenfell Tower

    Getty Images

  • 38/51

    A man distributes food from the back of a van near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block

    REUTERS/Paul Hackett

  • 39/51

    A firefighter is cheered near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block

    REUTERS/Paul Hackett

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    A T-shirt with a written message from the London Fire Brigade hangs from a fence near The Grenfell Tower block

    REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

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    A young girl on her way to lay flowers near Grenfell Tower

    Getty Images

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    The remains of residential tower block Grenfell Tower are seen from Dixon House a nearby tower block

    Getty

  • 43/51

    Volunteers prepare supplies for people affected by the Grenfell Tower block which was destroyed in a fire

    REUTERS/Neil Hall

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    Volunteers move a car to make space for a lorry picking up supplies for people affected by the Grenfell Tower block

    REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

  • 45/51

    People distribute boxes of food near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower bloc

    REUTERS/Paul Hackett

  • 46/51

    A woman touches a missing poster for 12-year-old Jessica Urbano on a tribute wall after laying flowers on the side of Latymer Community Church next to the fire-gutted Grenfell Tower

    AP

  • 47/51

    A man looks at messages written on a wall near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block

    REUTERS/Paul Hackett

  • 48/51

    Candles and messages of condolence near where the fire broke out at Grenfell Tower

    EPA

  • 49/51

    Police carry a stretcher towards Grenfell Tower

    Rick Findler/PA Wire

  • 50/51

    Emergency services at Grenfell Tower

    Rick Findler/PA Wire

  • 51/51

    Police carry out a body from Grenfell Tower in west London after a fire engulfed the 24-storey building

    Rick Findler/PA Wire

Some of the cladding has already been removed and none of the buildings were used to house inpatient accommodation. 

A spokeswoman for NHS Improvement told The Independent: “Patient safety is paramount. There will be no disruptions to patient services or continuity of care.”

It comes as at least 181 high-rise buildings in 51 different local authorities have now failed fire safety tests.

  • Read more

Chalcots Estate resident angrily confronts Camden Council leader

Following the news that four tower blocks in the Chalcots Estate in north London was covered in the cladding and had numerous internal fire safety risks Camden Council announced it would be evacuating over 400 residents. 

The evacuation was criticised as an overreaction by many as residents were forced to spend three days in a nearby leisure centre while the council frantically tried to find them a place to stay.

Meanwhile the cladding used on Grenfell Tower is still certified as "safe" even though manufacturer Arconic has removed the product from the market. 

The British Board of Agrément (BBA) first declared Reynobond aluminium panels as "fit for their intended use" in 2008 and typically revises this every three years and said it has no plans to review the decision again before 2020.

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