I’ve had the misfortune of having to go to Leighton Hospital on a number of occasions, fortunately never as a patient, and always found it a dispiriting experience.

There’s no doubt about it, it is a building of its time. It’s just a pity that was a pretty poor time.

For those who may have missed the story, much of Leighton Hospital was built using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which is a lightweight, ‘bubbly’ form of concrete commonly used in public buildings from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s.

RAAC is mainly found in roofs, although sometimes in floors and walls. RAAC is less strong than traditional concrete and there have been problems as a result which are starting to have significant consequences.

At Leighton, RAAC planks were used in the roof and they now need replacing on safety grounds.

Mid Cheshire Hospitals Foundation Trust submitted a bid in September for government funding to rebuild it and now is waiting to see if it has been successful.

Chief executive James Sumner said: “Unfortunately for Leighton, we’re one of seven hospitals in the country made nearly exclusively from this material, so it’s not just one building or a few buildings it’s about 85 per cent of the entire hospital estate.”

According to Local Democracy Reporter Belinda Ryan, Mr Sumner said there were three options open to the hospital: replacing the 34,000 planks, which would take a decade and cost about £660m; replacing the roof panels but at the same time building a few extra wards for more space, which would cost nearly £800m or building a new, ultra-modern, future proof hospital which would cost £660m and take about three or four years to complete.

Talk about a no-brainer. Surely this is a classic case where the Government should actually keep its ‘levelling up’ promise, especially as it has already promised to build 40 new hospitals.

A final decision on the funding bid, which has been submitted to the Government’s New Hospital Programme, is expected by next spring.

We’ve all experienced this Government’s tendency to over-promise and under-deliver, but in this instance we can reasonably expect the government to keep its promises, can’t we?

On a different topic, one of the ‘benefits’ of having a more time on my hands these days is I can pay a little more attention to what’s going on in the news.

Thanks to rolling 24-hour TV news and live transmissions from the House of Commons, I was able to watch the entire debate about the new coronavirus measures – face coverings, mandatory vaccinations for health workers and the so-called Covid passports which will be needed to get into nightclubs, football matches and other large gatherings.

Now I don’t know if the new measures will work – they all sound a little half-hearted and a bit ‘too little, too late’ – but I do agree something needs to be done in the face of the threat posed by the Omicron variant.

But I was staggered by the attitude of some of the Tory rebels who voted against the introduction of vital public health measures.

Remarkably, it was the issue of vaccine certification that most seemed to exercise the Tory rebels. In the run-up to the debate, one Conservative MP said it was like ‘Nazi Germany’, while others described it as being the ‘thin end of the authoritarian wedge’.

Can I respectfully suggest those Tory MPs who are concerned the country may be slipping into authoritarianism have a look at the proposals to ‘reform’ the Human Rights Act, or the plans to outlaw ‘noisy’ protests at the whim of the Home Secretary, or at the Nationality and Borders Bill that could see millions of Britons stripped of their citizenship without notice. That same bill will criminalise anyone who seeks to save their lives of migrants crossing the Channel in flimsy boats, and also give Border Force staff immunity from prosecution if people die in the Channel during “pushback” operations.

Or maybe have a look at legislation that seeks to limit the power of the courts to hold the government to account and plans to give ministers the ability to overturn legal rulings if they don’t like the decision.

I can only assume all those Tory rebels not happy about vaccine passports will be equally unhappy about the requirement of people to show ID to be able to vote. Now that sounds like ‘slipping into authoritarianism’ to me.