Statement – Major Incident on 28th August
On 28th August this year there was a serious electricity cut in south west London. Across St George’s our independent back-up generators automatically switched on to ensure that the hospital still had power.
However, a single switch connecting this back-up system failed to operate properly. This meant that around one sixth of St James’ Wing was without power. The main areas affected by the problem were our Accident and Emergency Department and some of the hospital wards. In other parts of St James’ Wing – such as Intensive Care – the generators switched in after a short delay of around 90 seconds.
There was no loss of life or serious deterioration in any patient’s condition as a result of this problem. But, as would normally be the case in a power cut affecting part of the hospital, we declared a ‘major incident’, asking extra staff to come into the hospital.
We have taken this incident very seriously to make sure we learn the right lessons. We have taken a careful look at our electrical back-up systems and now test not only our back-up generators but also all the switches and wiring between them and the actual hospital on a monthly basis.
ends
Press Office contact: Claire Veares 020 8725 5151 8th December 2003