A and E reopens at Lincoln County hospital
It follows a fire on Tuesday morning
The A and E department at Lincoln County hospital is now fully back open after being closed because of a fire.
The blaze caused damage in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
It started out in the radiology room and spread to nearby areas.
The clean up operation has taken some time but staff are stressing that's because it's vital for it to be completely safe,
The completion of the work means not only can A and E fully reopen but also the hospital has stood down its major incident status.
Staff and patients had to be evacuated when the blaze broke out but fortunately no one was hurt.
It means that for a time ambulances had to take emergency patients elsewhere.
There was significant damage to X Ray, CT and the MRI imaging suites.
It does mean patients who were due to attend Lincoln County Hospital for a scanning appointment today (X-ray, CT or MRI) are asked not to attend.
The Trust says " Those affected will be contacted directly and may be offered appointments at other hospitals so that the scans can be done as soon as possible.
Radiotherapy remains unaffected.
Outpatient appointments are going ahead with a small number of exceptions.
Patients will be contacted directly and their appointments rearranged where this is the case.
In addition, any patients who were unable to attend their appointments in the last few days will also be contacted to have these rearranged.
Please be aware that all Trust sites are still under extreme pressure due to COVID-19.
The Trust's Chief Executive Andrew Morgan said:
“A massive thank you to all of our colleagues who have worked around the clock to clean and restore all areas of the Emergency and Diagnostic Departments so that we have been able to reopen as soon as possible after the fire.
The Trust are in the process of receiving two mobile CT scanners and a mobile MRI scanner in order to be able to return services back to normal at Lincoln County Hospital.
“We would also like to thank Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service, Lincolnshire Police and all of our partner organisations for their continued support and assistance.
We also appreciate the understanding and support shown by our patients and the people of Lincolnshire.”