Back-up generator fails during hospital blackout

An investigation is underway at Ipswich Hospital into why a back-up generator failed during a power cut.

A major blackout in England and Wales caused almost one million people to lose electricity on Friday.

It also affected Ipswich Hospital which lost power for about 15 minutes.

Although the hospital’s emergency generators all worked, a circuit breaker failed.

Neill Moloney, Managing Director at East Suffolk and North East Essex Foundation Trust, said: “Yesterday evening the major power cut across parts of England and Wales also affected Ipswich Hospital, where we experienced a small power issue on site.

“The emergency generators at the hospital all worked, but a circuit breaker in our outpatients department did not.

“This briefly cut the electrical supply to our outpatients and x-ray department.

“We activated our business continuity plans and this was quickly resolved.

“All other areas of the hospital were unaffected and our staff kept patients and their carers reassured throughout the evening.”

Nick Hulme, the chief executive of the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, told BBC Radio 4 the failure appeared to be a “problem with the software”.

He said: “I am expecting a report first thing this morning to get the assurance that things are now safe.”