5 August 2024

Critical Incident stood down at QA Hospital: 4pm on Monday 5 August

Earlier today, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust made the decision to declare a Major Incident to protect patient safety because of significant loss of power to the Queen Alexandra Hospital site. We were then able to restore power so moved down into a Critical Incident and can now fully stand down thanks to the hard work of all involved.

The electrical supply has been tested for resilience and safety and successfully restored. We have also been able to restore our IT, phone, and bleep systems. Investigations into what caused the power outage continues.

We will continue to monitor the site closely over the coming days and have checks in place to ensure that our resilience is maintained.

We apologise to anyone who was affected by this incident and are sorry for any disruption you have faced.

While our Emergency Department is open for people with life threatening injuries and illnesses, our services remain busy so if you could safely be seen at a more appropriate service for your needs or are unsure where to go, please contact NHS 111 online for support and advice.

We would like to thank everyone involved for their quick response to the incident, as well as the support we have received from our local communities and system partners while we worked to restore services safely.

Update: 9.45am on Monday 5 August 2024

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.

Please remember the Emergency Department is for life threatening injuries and illnesses. If you aren't sure where to get help, use NHS 111 Online to be assessed and directed to the right place for your needs. Urgent Treatment Centres, community pharmacies and GP practices are open as usual. If you are unsure where to go, you can also check on our #KnowWhereToGo page.

Original post at 7am on Monday 5 August 2024

As a result of an unexpected serious loss of power, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust has today (Monday 5 August 2024) declared a Major Incident at Queen Alexandra Hospital.

The hospital is safe and our staff are working hard to continuing 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.

Our on-site teams are working to restore power as soon as possible. We expect some services will be affected today and there may be some cancellations, but please do continue to attend unless you have been contacted or updated through us.

We will keep you updated with any developments and potential impact on other services.

Thank you.