Hospital alert over bank holiday attack

HOSPITALS across England have been told to prepare for a second terrorist attack over the bank holiday.

NHS officials have issued an alert to the country’s 2 major trauma centres urging them to be ready to deal with shrapnel and blast injuries.

These are special units set up to treat patients with life-changing injuries, usually from road accidents. It is the first time they have been told to be on the alert for a terrorist inci- dent since November 2008, following the Mumbai attacks in India.

The alert was issued yesterday by Chris Moran, NHS England’s clinical director for trauma and obtained by the Health Service Journal.

It states: ‘We have a Bank Holiday weekend approaching. There are a number of things that all trauma units and major trauma centres can do to prepare for a further incident.’

In a separate intervention, NHS England bosses have told all hospitals to check blood supplies and identify patients who could be discharged to clear space for new patients. The letter, sent on Wednesday, also urged hospital trusts to review staffing levels and equipment stocks.

An NHS England spokesman said both alerts were a response to the heightened terror threat, which was upgraded to ‘critical’ on Tuesday following the Manchester attack.