600 Patients a Week Hit By Heating Fault

By DEBORAH JAMES Daily Post Staff

AROUND 600 patients a week will be turned away from clinics at a south Liverpool hospital until well into the New Year, because of a broken heating system.

All outpatient services were yesterday suspended at the Sir Alfred Jones Hospital in Garston, after two wards of elderly patients were evacuated from the site when a back-up boiler broke down on Sunday.

Last night, health service managers were still working to re- direct day clinics, including x-rays, blood tests, family planning, and minor surgery, to other units.

They revealed medical staff and patients are not likely to be allowed back on the site until after repairs are completed, around January 9.

It emerged the work will include removing asbestos which surrounds the boiler but managers last night insisted that work had already been scheduled before the boilers broke down.

Bernie Cuthel, director of patient services for Liverpool’s Primary Care Trusts, said: “We already had one broken boiler and we were running on the back-up. What we didn’t expect was for the back- up to fail as well.

“We are basically working towards the date of January 9, because of the Christmas period.

“The health service has a plan to deal with situations like this, and it should not significantly affect other services.”

She added: “The work to remove the asbestos was already planned. The boilers are in a separate area to the rest of the hospital and no patients would be at any risk.”

Ms Cuthel said the 24 in-patients who were evacuated were “doing fine” since their move to the Kent Lodge at Broadgreen Hospital at the weekend.

The hospital’s primary care treatment centre, which sees around Hospital boiler breaks down Entertainer unveils smiling monarch to mark her 80th birthday100 patients a day, has already been relocated to the nearby Garston urban village hall, on Banks Road.

The hospital also sees more than 100 patients a week across a range of day services, which include chiropody, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, ear syringing, ECGs (electro-cardiograms), orthopaedics, minor surgery, out of hours care, CPNs (community psychiatric nurses) and hearing aid clinics.

A helpline has been set up to advise patients where they should go for their appointments.

A spokeswoman for Liverpool’s Primary Care Trusts said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused and would want to reassure all patients, relatives and members of the public that the primary care trust is committed to to resume services at Sir Alfred Jones Memorial Hospital as soon as possible.”

Patients are asked to telephone 0845 345 0878 for information