MORE than £90million is needed to carry out repairs to ageing buildings at the Mid and South Essex Trust – including a huge £36.5million at Southend Hospital alone.

According to the latest NHS figures the trust – which manages Southend, Basildon and Broomfield hospitals – a huge £92.9million of investment is needed to fix issues at the hospitals.

Of this, £18.1million is required to fix high-risk issues, which NHS reports say must be addressed with urgent priority to prevent catastrophic failure, major disruption to clinical services, or safety deficiencies liable to cause serious injury.

The most expensive site was Southend Hospital, with £36.5 million needed to complete all the necessary repairs.

However, a series of major investments are being carried out at Southend Hospital, including the £8.7million expansion of the radiotherapy unit while plans have also been approved for a new £25million surgery unit. Southend Hospital also had plans granted this month for an £8million expansion to modernise its A&E department.

Chris Howlett, senior director of estates and facilities at Mid and South Essex NHS Trust, said: “We are working hard to ensure the most urgent needs are met, particularly around safety inside and outside our buildings.”

According to a report earlier this year, Southend Hospital, which was built in the 1930s before the the addition of a tower block in 1971 and the cardigan wing in the 1990s, has issues around space constraints, regular lift failures, high-risk asbestos removal, external cladding and issues surrounding fire safety.

Anna Firth, MP for Southend West, said: “I am determined to keep banging the drum in Westminster to ensure our hospital can provide the best possible care to local residents. I have campaigned tirelessly since being elected for more funding for Southend Hospital.

“Just last year I secured an extra £110 million in capital funding for Mid and South Essex NHS foundation trust, which is already contributing towards modernising our hospital.

“Indeed, thanks to the funding I secured, we will see an emergency department expansion and the modernisation of the endoscopy suite.”