Hospital power cut sparks anger

The hospital opened in January

Health officials have demanded an immediate investigation into why power supplies to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary failed for the second time in just under two months.

Some wards were without full electricity for about half an hour on Tuesday after a lightning strike on power lines in the Edinburgh area.

There was no risk to patient care, according to NHS Lothian, but health chiefs said the incident again undermined public confidence in the £180m hospital, which was built under the private finance initiative (PFI).

After the previous power cut at the beginning of September, the Health Minister, Malcolm Chisholm, insisted that steps must be taken to avoid a similar occurence.

On that occasion, the hospital was left without electricity for more than an hour after power failed and stand-by generators failed to kick in.

History of problems

The hospital opened its doors in January and was intended to be the jewel in the NHS's crown in Scotland.

Instead, it has been plagued by problems which include staff complaining about the lack of air conditioning during the hot summer.

It was built by the Consort Healthcare consortium, which is reported to be receiving £1.26bn by 2061 in exchange for initial capital costs of £184m.

There has to be a fulsome and abject apology from the companies concerned Brian Cavanagh Lothian NHS Board

A spokeswoman for Consort Healthcare insisted the hospital's generators had ensured power was maintained in intensive care, the high dependency unit, coronary care and the reproductive health unit on Tuesday.

She said an inquiry had begun to establish why other wards were left in the dark.

"The generators started as they should and supplied power to the building. However, it was part of the low-voltage network that didn't operate immediately.

"It was only part of the hospital that was affected and the essential equipment was working," she went on.

"We are carrying out an investigation into what caused the problem but we can't speculate at this moment."

'Absolutely astonishing'

But Brian Cavanagh, the chairman of NHS Lothian, said the situation was "unacceptable" and demanded an apology from Consort and the other private companies involved in the PFI project.

He said: "It's absolutely astonishing that once again patients and staff have had to go through another anxious evening.

"While the generators worked very effectively, the very fact that staff and the public should have to put up with this is unacceptable.

"I am demanding an urgent meeting with the key directors of the organisations involved to get to the bottom of why this has happened again and get guarantees that it won't happen again.

"There has to be a fulsome and abject apology from the companies concerned."

A Scottish Executive spokesman said ministers were "concerned" at the latest power failure.