‘CRUMBLING buildings’ are housing patients in Sandwell because of delays in constructing a new £250m-plus hospital in the borough, claims a union.

However, Sandwell health chiefs insist the Midland Metropolitan Hospital is on track to be built by 2022 as originally planned.

It is hoped the new facility, to be built in Smethwick and set to cost between £250-300m, will relieve the pressures faced by Sandwell Hospital and Rowley Regis Hospital.

However, the union Unite – Britain and Ireland’s largest union – says delays in bringing the project to fruition are hitting staff and patients hard.

Unite regional officer Su Lowe said: “The (Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS) trust needs to be open with staff and patients.

“They deserve an honest answer about when this new vitally-needed hospital is realistically going to be operational.

“Staff are being asked to provide first-class care in crumbling buildings which have been earmarked for demolition or are simply no longer fit for purpose.

“In the meantime, the trust needs to explain what it’s going to do to reduce the grinding misery of patients being cared for in structures which are no longer able to meet their needs.

“There also needs to be assurances that the increased costs of the project will not result in cuts to staffing to make ends meet and that the government is committed to fully funding all aspects of the project.”

The union’s statement added: “Paperwork for the (Trust) board meeting revealed that the appointment of a contractor to restart work at the hospital will not occur until this summer.

“No substantial work has taken place on the project since the original contractor Carillion collapsed in January 2018.

“At the time of Carillion’s collapse the hospital was half built but since then the unfinished building has deteriorated.

“The hospital is already three years late. The latest revelations are set to further delay the date the hospital becomes operational.”

However, Toby Lewis, chief executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, said Unite’s comments were ‘uninformed’.

He added: “The appointment of our contractor in summer 2019 is faster than the expectation set last autumn.

“Our workforce of over 6,000 employees have had not less than fortnightly information for the last year about the status of the Midland Met project, and are aware that we have been successful in obtaining funding to restart work last year, with a target to complete the build not later than 2022.

“Any suggestion that there is a lack of openness with local residents or our employees is patently false.

"Over £15m of new national money is being invested from national sources in the buildings we have, which are in poor condition, but safe for staff and patients.

“The Trust’s longstanding commitment to employee working conditions is exemplified in being one of the only NHS Trusts in the West Midlands to be Living Wage accredited.

"The commitment from the Trust and from DHSC is that the financial ask of the local NHS will be no greater because of the delayed scheme than the project approved by all in 2015 – that commitment is being honoured.

“We would be very happy to provide Unite with accurate information about the Midland Met project should they choose to get in touch which would avoid their inaccurate statements in the future.”