WARDS at the Royal Free Hospital do not meet strict fire safety regulations.

A report to the board of the Hampstead NHS trust said that a review had found a series of “non-compliant wards” that would need to be shut down “to allow for full refurbishment”. But the same report said that as long as a “managed system of fire safety was followed correctly” closures could be avoided as there was “no risk” to patients or staff.

The board report said £1.7million from capital funding reserves had been made available for fire safety measures at the NHS trust sites.