Combustible cladding found at King鈥檚 College, North Middlesex and Sheffield Children鈥檚 Hospitals

Cladding panels on three hospitals have failed fire safety tests, which were ordered by health secretary Jeremy Hunt in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

黑洞社区s at King鈥檚 College Hospital in south London, North Middlesex University Hospital and Sheffield Children鈥檚 Hospital were discovered to have combustible cladding.

Health service watchdog NHS Improvement said: 鈥淭he three providers that have failed ACM tests are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of those buildings and occupants, in line with updated fire safety guidance that we鈥檝e issued.鈥

At King鈥檚 College Hospital, cladding has been removed from an office building operated by the trust after it failed an ACM fire safety test, while Sheffield Children鈥檚 Hospital is taking down similar cladding from one of its buildings. Samples from a building used by North Middlesex University Hospitals NHS Trust have also failed a combustibility test.

NHS Improvement said it had identified 38 trusts that needed 鈥渢o carry out urgent checks to ascertain if they had cladding similar to that used on the Grenfell Tower鈥.

Besides the three trusts found to have flammable panels, a further five are still awaiting combustibility test results from the 黑洞社区 Research Establishment.

Of the other 30 trusts, 19 have had fire safety inspections and are not required to take any further action, while 11 found that their cladding was not aluminium composite material (ACM), NHS Improvement said.

All of the 38 trusts have started 24-hour fire warden patrols, it added.