Raw sewage floods hospital

Staff discovered rooms awash with faeces and urine in three separate incidents. No patients were in the areas but the sewage covered equipment and drenched a bathroom.

The leaks follow a £60 million renovation of the West Middlesex University Hospital funded by a private finance initiative.

Staff have already complained about loose door handles and broken locks but said the floods are among the worst incidents since the building opened.

One insider said: "It was simply unbelievable. The stuff was running out of the door, you could almost wade through it. The smell was horrific."

The incidents will renew concerns about PFI-build projects, in which private companies construct hospitals. It will also be highly embarrassing for the Government as it comes amid a high-profile crackdown on hygiene. The West Middlesex, in Isleworth, this week even boasted about new "hygienic" uniforms after a ban on doctors' white coats.

Hospital bosses said the sewage overspills were caused by a pair of scissors and paper towels being stuffed down a lavatory, rather than building problems.

The first incident happened on 7 August in the outpatient unit of a £50million new building. Staff investigating a bad smell in a room used for storage discovered urine seeping through the ceiling.

Staff called for a clean-up operation but managers sent one man with a mop and bucket. Eventually the entire area was closed while a major clean-up operation was mounted. Just as the unit was getting back to normal, the same thing happened in a plaster room, where broken limbs are set. No patients were affected.

NHS workers were incredulous when a third room was drenched in sewage on 14 August. This time it was a bathroom for people with skin problems and meant patients had to be moved.

Staff are so worried about further floods they have taken to covering equipment. One source said: " Everyone is on the look-out now. We could not believe that it happened so many times. You could almost paddle around in it, it was disgusting. They said a lavatory overflowed but it can't have happened three times."

A spokeswoman for the hospital, which owes £17million in loans and expects to return a deficit of £3million next year, said: "We can confirm that a blockage occurred in one of the main sewage down-pipes. This was caused by a pair of scissors, and the inappropriate disposal of paper and sanitary towels in lavatories."

She said engineers were called to clear the blockage but pressure had built up which caused two other floods. "We can confirm that at no time was there any risk of infection," she said.