New Doncaster Labour candidate joins calls for Doncaster Royal Infirmary repairs following plaster collapse

Labour candidate Lee Pitcher joined his party’s calls for the government to fund repairs at Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI) this week after a leak caused part of the ceiling to collapse.

Mr Pitcher was announced as Labour’s parliamentary candidate last month for the new Doncaster East and Axholme constituency.

The constituency will replace the current Don Valley, which is represented by Conservative MP Nick Fletcher.

Images circulated by the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals (DBTH) NHS Trust show repairmen working to fix collapsed ceiling plaster caused by a leak in the Education Centre and Endoscopy ward.

It is the latest in a series of incidents at the hospital, where there are an estimated 600 outstanding repairs.

The Trust wrote: “Fortunately, nobody was harmed when the plaster came down, however this is the daily reality of working with a site which has a maintenance backlog which runs into the hundreds of millions, and is need of replacement.”

Mr Pitcher joins Doncaster Central MP Dame Rosie Winterton, upcoming candidate Sally Jameson and Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones in calling upon the government to fund the site’s repairs.

Doncaster Council previously bid for funding for a new hospital to replace DRI, however this was rejected by government.

Mayor Ros Jones continued to put the case forward for this, however stated there was “virtually no chance” following a meeting with a government minister.

Lee Pitcher, parliamentary candidate for Doncaster East and Axholme, said:

“The Tories have left our NHS at breaking point. If I’m elected, I’ll be campaigning for a new hospital and lobbying for more services in Doncaster at every opportunity.

“Right now though, this weeks events demonstrate, more than ever, why we are calling on the Government to complete urgent repairs for the safety of staff and patients.”

Mayor Ros Jones along with Sally Jameson have created a petition calling for the funds to repairs DRI, which can be found by visiting the website: Labour | Add your name