The data from the Liberal Democrats said the incidents resulted in 759 hours (32 days) of lost clinical time.

Liberal Democrat health and social care spokesperson, Helen Morgan, said: ‘The health secretary needs to immediately publish the full impact assessment of these delays with many of these hospital buildings already hanging by a thread. People have a right to know what the impact of this decision will be and just how at risk they are as a result.'

The Lib Dems said the delayed sites experienced almost 100 floods, a quarter of all sites in NHS England, despite accounting for less than 1% of the buildings.

Almost half of the incidents (241) were of a critical nature, including crumbling roofs at risk of collapse, water leaks, broken-down lifts or ventilation and heating systems not working properly.

The delays to the NHP were announced by health and social care secretary Wes Streeting on 20 January.

Streeting confirmed 18 hospitals will not begin construction until 2032 at the earliest.

A DHSC spokesperson said: ‘Buildings and equipment across the NHS have been left to crumble following years of neglect, disrupting patient care and hindering staff.

‘We are investing over £1bn to tackle the existing backlog of critical maintenance, repairs and upgrades.

‘Repairing and rebuilding our NHS estate will be a vital part of our 10-Year Health Plan.'