FIRE doors at Glasgow’s super-hospital are faulty in ‘many wards’ and could risk incidents spreading, NHS sources claim.

The doors at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital are designed to swing shut automatically when the fire alarm sounds but there is said to be a “general problem” with many not closing properly or at all in some cases.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said doors found damaged were repaired ‘as soon as possible.'

It comes after staff raised concerns that the fire and emergency evacuation policy at the hospital is ‘chaotic and confusing’ with doctors, nurses and other staff unsure of correct procedures and a lack of designated wardens.

Read more: Fire and emergency evacuation policy at super-hospital 'chaotic and confusing' staff claim

An NHS source said: “Each ward has 11 sets of two doors in the corridors, two sets function as the public entrance and staff entrance and the rest are fire doors designed to close when an alarm sounds. In my personal experience, the last time an alarm went off one set failed to close.

“My understanding is that it’s a general problem. Some simply don’t close despite all the other doors doing so. Checks are routinely carried out but can take a while to be resolved.

"Each floor is split into fire compartments. It's why we do progressive horizontal evacuation. 

"Each compartment is supposed to be sealed off to prevent the spread of the fire. It's a relatively new concept."

The NHS source said there is also a problem with visitors and patients being able to gain access to areas of the hospital where doors should only open with the use of an employee work pass. 

She said: “They are supposed to be only accessible by staff but patients and visitors frequently use them.The risk of cross infection is huge.”

Read more: Glasgow hospital evacuates five patients after fire on ward 

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We have an ongoing maintenance programme across all of our hospitals with fire doors, and any other doors, being a part of this. Any doors that are damaged have repair works carried out as soon as possible.” 

A government inquiry is currently looking into whether the design and construction of the hospital contributed to infection deaths and illness. Two patients, including a 10-year-old boy died after contracting a bug linked to pigeon droppings.

The hospital has suffered a number of costly glitches since it opened four years ago including glass panels on the exterior of the building crashing to the ground and a problem with the blinds in the windows and doors of the single rooms which led to almost all of them having to be replaced.