Critical incident over after hospital lifts failed

A critical incident that was declared at a maternity unit all its lifts were left out of action has been lifted.

The problems arose on Tuesday when one of two lifts in operation in the maternity building at the George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton, broke down at the same time the other was being refurbished.

As a result, staff had to review all new admissions and were operating a telephone triage system for patients with concerns.

The George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust said the technical issue has now been resolved and the unit was accepting new admissions, with services continuing as planned.

In a statement, it apologised for the problems and said: "Patient safety is always our priority, and the difficult decision to limit services over the past two days has helped to maintain this."

The hospital said there was still only one functioning lift in the building, because one lift continues to be refurbished.

"To help ensure the lifts can be prioritised for clinical activity, patients and visitors are asked to continue to use the stairs in the department where possible," the trust added.

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