20 November 2008
At approximately 4pm yesterday (19 November 2008) there was a small fire in the electrical plant serving the day surgery unit at Sutton Hospital, which resulted in patients and staff being asked to leave the building for a short time.
We are pleased to confirm that no one was harmed, but there has been a temporary loss of power to the unit. Our electricians have assessed the damage and expect to reinstate the electrical supply late next week, with the unit reopening on 1 December 2008.
Alternative arrangements have been made to treat the 130 patients who would have been seen at Sutton Hospital during this time, with the majority of these non-emergency operations being transferred to St Helier and Epsom hospitals. We are contacting all of the affected patients directly.
We are working with the fire brigade to understand what may have started the fire and apologise for any inconvenience the incident has caused to our patients.
The day surgery unit at Sutton Hospital consists of two theatres, treating patients for conditions such as repairing hernias. Approximately 20 operations take place each day.
