Bosses praise staff over fire

Speaking at the Trust Board meeting for December Gerard Guckian said: “Our staff showed tremendous leadership and resilience during and after the incident.

“They acted quickly to safely secure over 120 patients who had to be evacuated as a result of a fire on the roof of the Tower Block building. Staff have kept the hospital operational and have worked tirelessly to limit any disruption to front line patient care. This is truly remarkable.”

Chief Executive of the Western Trust, Elaine Way commented: “It has been almost two weeks since the fire incident occurred. Since then our main focus has been on ensuring patient care continues in a safe and comfortable environment.

“We have therefore secured additional funding of almost £1million to accelerate the planned rolling programme of development for the hospital site. Temporary measures are being put in place to ensure this happens in the safest way.

“Following confirmation that the fire was not as a result of the fabric of the building the Trust has decided to reopen Ward 8 for the care of patients who are mobile.

“This will be kept under review whilst the Trust continues with the wider rolling programme of developments for the Altnagelvin Hospital site.”