Babington Hospital kitchen and site update
We’ve been alerted to a number of leaks in the hot water pipes which supply Babington Hospital. After a thorough inspection from our estates experts we’ve had to make the difficult decision to switch off the hot water supply to the site. It is prohibitively expensive to repair or substantially replace the pipework in the building given the complexity of the site and the building materials that were used throughout its lifetime, together with the well-documented future plans for the site.
Our estates teams have therefore commissioned electric water heaters to ensure hot water supply in clinical areas is not compromised and patient safety can be maintained. Unfortunately there isn’t a similar, cost-effective solution for the hospital’s kitchen, given the requirements to safely run such a facility, such as its industrial-scale dishwashers for example. The decision has therefore been taken to close the kitchen, marking the end of an era after many happy years of catering for staff, patients and local people.
We’ve met with affected colleagues and are incredibly grateful for the service they’ve provided. We’re currently in discussion about suitable alternative employment for those colleagues. The proposed final day of operation will be Friday 9 December 2022. The hospital’s dining room will remain open as an area for all staff to take breaks, eat their lunch, or work flexibly.
We will also install a drinks machine as soon as possible to make hot drinks available.