Telford A&E temporarily shuts after arrival of patient exposed to chemicals

The emergency department was shut from 10.30am until 1pm on Thursday while it was decontaminated.

Patients in the A&E department at Princess Royal Hospital were temporarily moved elsewhere on site, while ambulances were diverted to other hospitals as a precaution, following the arrival of the patient who had been exposed at his "local" workplace.

Bosses at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said the risk was very low but asked patients to stay away while the A&E was cleaned.

The closure was announced at 12.45pm and the reopening confirmed just before 2pm when the hospital trust said: "The incident has now been safely resolved and the emergency departments and all other services at PRH have now been reopened."

Earlier Nigel Lee, chief operating officer at SaTH, said: “This morning a patient presented at the emergency department (ED) of the PRH having been exposed off-site at his local workplace to potentially harmful chemicals.

"The risk of onward contamination to other patients or staff at the hospital has been assessed as very low but, as a precautionary measure, the ED has been closed whilst decontamination cleaning is undertaken.

“The other patients from the ED have been moved elsewhere and are being assessed.

"Again, this is as a precaution, as there is currently no indication that anyone else has been affected.

"Diverts to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and other hospitals are in place for incoming patients to PRH and we are working very closely with all relevant partners and agencies.

“Whilst ED, and other services at PRH, are closed patients are asked not to come to the hospital and await further updates.

"We are working hard to ensure that the ED and other departments at PRH can reopen as soon as is practicably possible and we will issue an update on the situation as soon as new information is available.”