Hospital disruption continues after fire

A fire at Southampton's main hospital has led to more than 200 patients being evacuated from wards and operations cancelled.

A major incident was declared after the blaze broke out in the endoscopy unit, in the west wing of Southampton General Hospital, at about 05:30 GMT.

The hospital said the fire had been contained and no-one had been injured, adding that patients in all affected areas were evacuated to safe areas elsewhere on the site.

In a statement just after 16:30, the hospital said the impact was "significant" with a number of planned operations on Monday being cancelled.

It said: "As part of the emergency response, our staff moved more than 200 patients to other areas of our hospital where they are being cared for.

"Our focus continues to be safe patient care and moving them to other wards and departments across our site."

The statement added: "The impact of the fire has been significant and will limit our ability to fulfil all planned activity tomorrow [Monday]."

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service said more than 110 firefighters attended the blaze at its peak.

It said the fire had been brought under control by about 10:00 with crews remaining on the scene to dampen down.

Patients were moved to safe areas, including inside the main entrance of the hospital.

Some could be seen in their beds in the hospital's main lobby, which is usually busy with members of the public.

Following the fire, the hospital said its emergency department was diverting patients away unless their condition was life or limb-threatening.

Chief medical officer Paul Grundy said: "Many of us, including myself, had a slightly rude awakening first this morning and were called into the hospital, all hands on deck, to deal with what is a major incident.

"We have all of the clinical teams - doctors, nurses, medics, all the support services - on site, looking after that cohort of patients.

"Those that need a higher acuity support have been moved to the parts of the hospital where we can provide that."

He said many patients were being nursed in the hospital's corridors "whilst we are looking for a more definitive solution".

The hospital said it would be contacting all patients affected by cancellations to make them aware, by telephone, email or text on Sunday.

Anyone with an outpatient appointment on Monday should attend as planned, unless they hear directly from the hospital, it said.

Grundy earlier said the situation had been "hugely challenging".

He added: "We've had to move into a divert mode for patients coming into us from other hospitals.

"We're asking for support across the system, so our partner hospitals in this network, other emergency departments are helping us, but also we'll be needing help from other hospitals further afield, specialist services in, for example, Oxford Bristol, Brighton, and so forth."

At 11:00, several fire engines and an incident response unit were still present outside the Coxford Road entrance, with the smell of smoke still hanging in the air.

Surrounding roads were closed while emergency services dealt with the fire. Most closures were lifted shortly after 14:00, with only access to the hospital's west wing remaining blocked off.

The hospital asked anyone requiring medical attention to use other services in the community, including urgent treatment centres at the Royal South Hants Hospital in Southampton or at Lymington New Forest Hospital.

Speaking earlier, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service group manager Larry Mackrell crews were carrying out smoke clearance at the building.

"We'll have an attendance here for the foreseeable future but now we're looking to scale down our operations," he said.

"At this stage we don't have any information as to what caused the fire or really what was involved."

He said the fire appeared to have "stayed within the room of ignition" but there had been "products of combustion smoke" travel throughout the floor, so the impact had been "significant".