Major incident withdrawn at Southampton General Hospital after fire causes "severe damage" and huge patient evacuation
A major incident at Southampton General Hospital has been stood down after a devastating fire ripped through its west wing earlier this month.
Southampton General Hospital has now entered a “recovery phase” after 502 patients were evacuated on February 1 following a blaze that has left “severe damage” in its wake.
Firefighters from across Hampshire scrambled to the scene in the early hours of the morning, with an investigation concluding the cause was electrical.
In response, the University Hospital Southampton declared a major incident, with patients being moved to safe spaces across the rest of the hospital in the immediate aftermath.
“Some of our services remain impacted as a result of a large part of our estate being severely damaged”, a spokesperson for the University Hospital Southampton explained.
In an update, the hospital has now withdrawn the major incident status but considerable pressure remains as the site operates with 150 fewer patient beds than normal.
“We would continue to ask that you consider other urgent treatment services including pharmacy first and urgent treatment centres if your condition is not life or limb threatening and also support the discharge of loved ones.
“We remain grateful to our community and regional partners for all their support throughout the management of this incident.
“Our thanks go to our staff for their hard work and dedication in enabling us to return as many services as possible, so we can continue to provide safe care for our patients.”
As a result of the ongoing disruption, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust has urged patients to only attend the emergency department for life emergencies as they see a spike in patients.
On social media, the trust said: “Our hospital is extremely busy.