Major incident stepped down at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth as A&E back up-and-running
A UK hospital which declared a major incident and told patients to not attend A&E earlier this morning has stepped the incident down.
Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth said that a major incident had been declared after an “unexpected serious loss of power”. Patients requiring A&E care were told not to attend the Queen Alexandra Hospital, with care only being p0rovided to those already admitted.
Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust have now stepped down the major incident to an internal critical incident, with the emergency department reopened. The update read: “Following a serious power outage earlier this morning, we have been able to restore power to most of the QA Hospital site and re-opened our Emergency Department.
“Due to this we have made the decision to step down from Major Incident to an Internal Critical Incident. Work to identify and investigate the cause behind this morning’s outage continues. Many of our IT systems are now back up and running, so if you have an outpatient’s appointment, please continue to attend as usual unless you have heard from us directly.
“We have had to cancel a small number of procedures this morning, but our teams are working hard to safely continue carrying as many of these out as possible. We expect to see some delays as services are coming back online so ask for your patience and understanding while our teams work to do this.
“Our phone lines are still having some issues, and we will share an update when these are fully back. We are also having issues with the card readers in our car parks so have suspended payment for today (Monday 5 August). Visitors are welcome to attend the hospital as normal.”