The bill to fix crumbling hospitals and NHS buildings has soared 19% in a year to almost £14 billion, figures reveal.
Known as the maintenance backlog, the total is the amount that would be needed to restore deteriorating buildings to a suitable working condition.
This could include a range tasks, from fixing leaky gutters to faulty lifts, and the fabric of hospital buildings.
The data showed the cost of high risk repairs waiting to be done has risen 16% to £2.74 billion.
NHS Providers deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery said the backlog meant patient and staff safety was at risk.
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She added: “Vital bits of the NHS are literally falling apart after years of underinvestment nationally. The list of essential repairs across the NHS waiting to be done keeps getting longer and the costs are rocketing.
“This can’t go on. Eye-watering sums are needed just to patch up buildings and equipment which are in a very bad way right across hospitals, mental health, community health and ambulance services.”
Lord Ara Darzi’s recent independent investigation into the state of the NHS noted the impact of cuts to capital investment.
He noted that a “staggering capital gap opened up between the UK and other countries” during the 2010s.
His report said: “There would have been £27 billion more capital investment, had we matched the EU15, £35 billion more had we matched the Nordic countries, and £46 billion more had we matched the investment levels of predominantly English speaking countries.”
Ms Cordery called for the upcoming Budget to “provide an urgent capital funding boost and rethink rules on capital investment in the NHS so that trusts can tackle the near £14billion maintenance backlog, give patients safe surroundings and boost productivity.”
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the backlog figures were “deeply worrying and demonstrate just how much the NHS is crying out for vital capital investment”.
He added: “As Lord Darzi pointed out, the health service has been starved of capital funding for more than a decade and the result is an NHS estate that is in desperate need of extensive repairs – particularly those trusts who have issues with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (raac).
“It is clear that the NHS must have more capital funding if it is going to tackle crumbling estates, replace out-dated equipment, invest in the latest digital technologies and boost productivity.”
A Government spokesperson said: “This Government inherited a broken NHS – and to fix it, we recognise the importance of strategic, value-for-money capital investments.
“The upcoming Budget will begin delivering on the promise of change, including for the NHS.
“As well as the vital reform we will deliver as part of our 10-Year Health Plan, we will ensure the NHS has the funding it needs as we build a health service fit for the future.”