Maternity unit shut for four days after generator fails

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust temporarily suspended admissions to the women’s and children’s centre at Princess Royal Hospital – which houses the provider’s consultant-led maternity services – earlier this week due to an issue with a generator.

HSJ understands a power cut occurred and estates chiefs were concerned about running solely on battery power, hence suspending admissions while the problem was fixed.

Five inductions of labour were diverted to neighbouring trusts, while fewer than five caesarean sections were rescheduled during the outage.

Meanwhile, 56 patients accessing the trust’s telephone triage service were advised by medical chiefs to attend nearby hospitals.

Following the incident, a learning review is taking place, and HSJ understands this will investigate whether any women came to harm. HSJ has also been told the generator has been fixed “as good as permanently”.

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Source: HSJ, 23 June 2023