COMBUSTIBLE insulation panels found on Grenfell Tower were also installed throughout Scotland's largest hospital, it has emerged.
The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow is the latest building to enter the spotlight after an investigation revealed that the same rainscreen boards used to insulate the £842 million facility had also been discovered on the London high-rise where at least 80 residents died in a blaze last month.
Previously, it was believed that Celotex RS5000 was the only insulation product used on Grenfell Tower. Eyewitnesses described how the tower "went up like a match" after flames spread from a kitchen fridge on the fourth floor to the outside of the 24-storey building on June 14.
However, Channel 4 News revealed that Kingspan Kooltherm K15 panels were also present, and burned just as quickly under high temperatures in laboratory tests as the Celotex panels. Both products meet the highest fire safety rating of 'zero'.
The Celotex panels have now been withdrawn for use on buildings over 18 metres.
On its website, Kingspan lists the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital as one of the major projects it has been involved in. It states that the Kingspan Kooltherm K15 rainscreen boards were installed "on a range of façade systems on the external walls" of the 14-storey hospital.
The panels are said to provide the "necessary thermal performance" which ensured that the hospital scored the highest A+ rating for energy efficiency.
In a statement, Kingspan said it had had "no involvement" in the cladding or insulation of Grenfell Tower and was unaware any of its products had been used.
The company stressed that the panels meet safety standards when properly installed, but that it did not believe they should have been mixed with panels from another supplier, as appears to have occurred on Grenfell Tower.
A spokesman said that the company believed its Kooltherm K15 panels accounted for less than five per cent of the total insulation on Grenfell tower and had been "sourced by a third party distributor and supplied to contractors involved in the refurbishment".
He added: "Whilst we are still seeking to establish the facts of what occurred, it appears that Kooltherm K15 has been used without our knowledge, as part of a combination for which it was not designed, and which Kingspan would never recommend.
"Kingspan is very confident that properly installed and specified our products deliver safe, reliable and energy efficient insulation solutions.
"Given the ongoing investigations by relevant authorities into the Grenfell Tower fire it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."
It comes after fire chiefs in England warned that 38 NHS sites had been identified as having similar risk characteristics to Grenfell, following an audit of cladding, fire escapes, stairways and sprinkler systems.
Glasgow-based Housing campaigner, Sean Clerkin, said: "There must be a thorough investigation of the Queen Elizabeth hospital. This flammable over-cladding has to be stripped out of the Queen Elizabeth to make it safe, and this has to be done as soon as possible."
He added that the cladding covering all major buildings in Scotland should also be fire-tested as a precaution.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has previously stressed that the Queen Elizabeth hospital has fire door systems and - unlike Grenfell tower - a sprinkler system.
A spokeswoman for NHSGGC said: "The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital is one of the safest buildings in the UK in terms of fire engineering.
"Multiplex, the main contractor for the hospital construction, have assured NHSGGC that the Kingspan Kooltherm K15 Insulation Boards were properly installed to meet Scotland’s stringent building and fire safety regulations.
"The hospital itself is designed and equipped to the highest standards for fire safety.
"It has heat/smoke detection and early warning fire alarm systems combined with automatic fire suppression sprinkler systems fitted in all areas.
"The hospital patients, staff and visitors are further protected by designated fire fighting and fire evacuation lifts, as well as multiple fire escape stairwells."
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