Building site cable blunder causes Hampshire A&E delays

Damage to cables on a building site has led to disruption at a number of hospitals.

Openreach said the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, along with 4,000 homes and businesses, were experiencing major broadband and phone issues after the accident on Wednesday.

The Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester has been most affected.

People with non-life threatening conditions are being urged to seek alternatives to hospital care.

Openreach said a third party working at Dummer, near Basingstoke, had accidentally drilled through fibre optic and copper cables.

"Engineers are on site working hard to resolve the situation, but it is a complex fix and may some time to completely recover.

"We know how frustrating this must be for those affected and we'll be doing what we can to prioritise fixes for vulnerable customers and key local services," it said.

Posting on Facebook, the NHS trust, which also runs Andover War Memorial Hospital and Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, said it was continuing "to care for everyone who needs our help".

"If you attend one of our emergency departments for a non-life threatening condition, you may experience long waiting times to be seen," it added.

Chief medical officer Dr Lara Alloway said the "significant IT issues" began after the fibre optic cables were disturbed by the construction work.

"Our contingency plans have been activated and we continue to operate safely but all our services are under severe pressure across all our hospital sites," she said.

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