Portsmouth's Queen Alexandra Hospital ends water leak major incident

Hospital services are returning after a major water leak led to appointments being cancelled and left wards in Portsmouth without running water.

A major incident after the high-pressure pipe burst in the Queen Alexandra Hospital early on Friday.

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust said areas affected had been fully cleaned and repaired.

Anyone with an appointment has been asked to attend as normal, unless told otherwise.

The trust said it had tested the water supply and had been able to "stand down" the major incident.

Firefighters were initially called in to help deal with the burst pipe above a ground floor corridor.

The maternity and intensive care units were left without water from taps, but relied on contingency supplies.

The emergency department remained open, but ambulances were diverted to other hospitals, including those in Southampton, Basingstoke and Winchester.

Trust chief executive Penny Emerit said: "I would like to thank our incredible teams for their hard work in keeping all patients on-site safe and restoring all infrastructure and clinical services.

"We know having an appointment or procedure delayed isn't easy, but it was the right thing to do given the situation we were in."

South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) said it would continue to provide additional staff and vehicles in the local area on Saturday as the wider health and social care services return to normal.

It is thought the burst pipe could have been related to a power surge affecting hospital's on-site water pumps.

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