A HEALTH campaigner launched a legal challenge against University College London Hospital in Bloomsbury on Monday, arguing that beds at its new £422 million hospital are too close together.
Community activist Alan Spence maintains that at just 2.7 metres apart, the beds at the private finance initiative (PFI) hospital in Euston Road fail to meet NHS hygiene standards.
Rules brought in after the building was designed but before it was built say beds should be 3.6 metres apart to help prevent the spread of the MRSA superbug.
Trust chief executive Robert Naylor and Health Secretary John Reid have both told the New Journal in recent months that the decision to go ahead with the hospital as originally planned was sound, pointing out that it will boast hi-tech hygiene features which have not been used elsewhere.
But filing his case at the High Court, Mr Spence, who is chairman of Bury Place Residents’ Association, said: “It is appalling that a new NHS hospital should be planned in such a way that patients will be put at risk of infection.
“The safety of the patients should be the paramount consideration in the planning of the hospital and not some secondary afterthought.”
His solicitor, James Bell, added: “This unprecedented legal challenge raises questions about the safety of patients and the inflexibility of PFI contracts.
“If Mr Spence is successful, hospitals around the country will have to be planned in a way that puts the welfare of patients first and the desire of the NHS to cram in as many beds as possible second.”