The A&E department at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth was closed to new admissions (Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)
A hospital in Portsmouth declared a major incident this morning and closed its A&E department to new admissions following a ‘serious loss of power’.
Queen Alexandra Hospital advised patients to avoid A&E after the loss of power was reported shortly after 7am this morning.
The hospital has now confirmed in an updated statement that power has been restored and that the emergency department has reopened to new admissions.
A spokesperson for the hospital’s NHS Trust said: ‘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.
The hospital has now downgraded from a major incident to an internal critical incident (Picture: Getty Images Europe)
‘Visitors are welcome to attend the hospital as normal.’
The spokesperson said earlier during the major incident: ‘As a result of an unexpected serious loss of power, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust has declared a major incident at Queen Alexandra Hospital.
‘The hospital is safe and our staff are working hard to continue providing care for patients already with us, but we have made the decision to close to new attendances to our Emergency Department.
‘Patients with a serious medical condition must phone NHS 111 or 999 in an Emergency and not attend the QA Hospital Emergency Department.
‘Phone lines and switchboard are also affected, so you will not be able to call into or receive calls from the hospital at this time.’
The spokesperson for the NHS Trust added: ‘We expect some services will be affected today and there may be some cancellations, but please continue to attend unless you have been contacted or updated through us directly or our website/social media.’
Another hospital declared a major incident in November 2023 after severe flooding led to loss of power.
The maternity ward at Blackpool Victoria Hospital suffered a complete blackout.
Mothers and babies were moved to other parts of the hospital after they were forced to evacuate away from the women and children’s unit.
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