Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust endured a Major Incident at Queen Alexandra Hospital last week.
On Monday 5 August 2024 at 7 am, the hospital declared the Major Incident following an unexpected serious loss of power.
As a result, the Trust made the decision to close the Emergency Department to new attendees.
Phone lines and switchboards were also affected, so patients were unable to call or receive calls from the hospital.
By 9:45 am, the hospital had restored power to most of the QA Hospital site and re-opened the Emergency Department.
We will continue to monitor the site closely over the coming days and have checks in place to ensure that our resilience is maintained
This power restoration meant the Trust could step the Major Incident down to an Internal Critical Incident. However, a small number of procedures had already been cancelled.
At 4 pm, the Hospital stood down the entire incident following the resolution of power and IT issues.
"The electrical supply has been tested for resilience and safety and successfully restored," the Trust stated. "We have also been able to restore our IT, phone, and bleep systems. Investigations into what caused the power outage continue."
"We will continue to monitor the site closely over the coming days and have checks in place to ensure that our resilience is maintained," the Trust reassured.
Disaster recovery plans?
This is far from the first power cut issue at a hospital in the UK in 2024 so far. In July, Swindon Hospital suffered a power cut causing disruption to the A&E and urgent treatment centre. Further back in March, East Surrey Hospital in Redhill ambulances were put on "full divert" to other centres as the hospital shut for hours from a power cut.
Building Better Healthcare spoke to an independent UK multi-brand supplier of critical power and energy solutions, Critical Power Supplies, about this power supply issue and others across the UK.
“Swift decision-making, clear communication and cooperation with local authorities and utility providers will ensure that power can be recovered as quickly as possible, while safeguarding patients, employees, and members of the public," said CEO, Jason Koffler.
Hospitals must develop a plan that outlines the steps to take during a power outage and train staff on the relevant procedures
Koffler spoke about the need for a disaster recovery plan in these scenarios.
“Establishing a disaster recovery plan is crucial to ensuring continuous operation and minimising downtime," Koffler urged. "Hospitals must develop a plan that outlines the steps to take during a power outage and train staff on the relevant procedures, including how to safely shut down equipment or switch to alternative power sources."
The CEO explains that these plans must be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect any changes to the facility's critical power supply setup.
"Hospitals must test their critical power systems to ensure they perform as expected when needed. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, those minutes can keep people safe, prevent weeks of work, and keep financial losses to an absolute minimum.”
Better than a solution, however, is prevention.
Koffler's company is an expert in many power systems and can provide many products including uninterruptible power supplies and standby power generators.
These products can help minimise negative impacts in power cut scenarios.