Hospital put on notice over ‘serious’ fire risk
A FIRE enforcement notice has been issued against the Queen’s Medical Centre after an inspection found a serious fire risk.
The hospital, part of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, was served the notice in November after an inspection found safety concerns.
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that it has been working closely with the hospital to progress towards compliance.
A spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we did issue the Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, with an enforcement notice late last year. This followed an inspection in which we identified a number of fire safety deficiencies.
“Since then, we have been working closely with the hospital to support them with advice and guidance and good progress is being made towards compliance.
“As ever, the purpose of our enforcement work is and always will be to ensure the safety of those who live in, work in and visit our county.”
An enforcement notice is issued “if the fire and rescue authority finds a serious risk that’s not being managed”, according to the Government website.
The notice will highlight what improvements are needed and by when. Alterations notices, less serious than enforcement notices, are issued if the premises have high safety risks or will have high safety risks if the use of the premises changes. Prohibition notices are the most serious and follow enforcement notices. They take effect immediately and are served if the fire and rescue authority thinks the fire risk is so great that access to premises needs to be prohibited or restricted.
Paul Matthew, chief financial officer at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service issued the trust with a fire enforcement notice following a routine inspection of part of the Queen’s Medical Centre on Wednesday, November 15, 2023.
“We are committed to the safety of our patients, staff and visitors, and thank Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service for bringing this to our attention. We have taken action to address the concerns, including maintaining records, training, repairs and communicating fire safety actions to our staff.
“This will remain a priority for the Trust as we continue to work with our colleagues in the fire service to ensure we are fully compliant.”
The trust has also confirmed that it has been operating without an official fire manager.
NUH said a senior manager has been covering the fire manager role while it recruits to the position. It added that the recruitment process is ongoing and the post should be filled “in the next few weeks”.