A hospital in the UK has urged patients not to go to the emergency room after it declared a major incident.
Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital is facing an unexpected and “serious” loss of power this morning.
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Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital has declared a major incident this morning
It has been warned that some services will be affected and that disruption could lead to cancellations.
But patients are encouraged to attend their appointments as scheduled unless contacted directly.
A spokesperson for Queen Alexandra Hospital said: “As a result of an unexpected severe power loss, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust has today declared a major incident at Queen Alexandra Hospital.
“The hospital is safe and our staff are working hard to continue to provide care for patients who are already with us, but we have made the decision to close new admissions in our Emergency Department.”
The hospital has urged patients with serious health problems to call 999 or NHS 111 if there is an emergency – not to go to the hospital’s QA emergency department.
Patients and visitors will also find that telephone lines and the switchboard are affected.
This means that they will not be able to call from or to the hospital.
“Our teams are on site working to restore power as soon as possible. We expect some services to be disrupted today and there may be some cancellations, but please keep coming unless you have been contacted or notified through us,” the spokesperson added.
“We will keep you informed of developments and the potential impact on other services.”
In an update shortly before 10am, the NHS trust issued a new statement confirming that power had been restored to most locations.
The emergency department has now reopened and the major incident has been changed to an internal critical incident.
The spokesman added: “Many of our IT systems are now back up and running so if you have an outpatient appointment please continue to attend as normal unless we have contacted you directly.”
This happened after a “small number” of procedures were canceled this morning and “some delays” are expected to continue.
“Our phone lines are still experiencing some issues and we will post an update when they are fully restored. We are also experiencing issues with the card readers in our car parks so we have suspended payments for today,” the spokesperson added.
“Visitors are welcome at the hospital as usual.”
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The hospital’s emergency department has now reopenedCredit: Getty
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