Southampton General Hospital clarifies it is 'very much open' after Google said it was closed

A major hospital has been forced to clarify that it is 'very much open' after it was flagged as temporarily closed by Google Maps.

Southampton General Hospital, which is one of the busiest in the South, deals with emergency and critical care as well as acute medicine and operates a dedicated eye casualty.

The site, run by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, took to social media to inform patients that it is open as usual and patients should continue to attend scheduled appointments.

In a post the trust said: "We are aware of an issue with Google Maps saying Southampton General Hospital is closed.

"Please don't be alarmed - we are very much OPEN and here for you if you need us, or if you have an appointment."

When a patient searches for the hospital in Google they are presented with Google's own 'places' results, before the hospitals webpage is presented.

In those results the site is presented as 'temporarily closed', with no other information provided.

It is not known why Google is saying the site is closed, as on the trust's own website it says: "Our emergency department assesses and treats life-threatening injuries. It's open 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. It is sometimes referred to as 'casualty', 'accident and emergency' or 'A&E'."

ITV Meridian has approached Google for comment.