Trust assurances following fire incidents

Several minor fires have broken out at the site in less than a month, there was also a fire alert on Tuesday past (March 15th) in the estates administration building - staff were evacuated for a short time.

The hospital was also hit by a gas leak earlier this month.

And on Thursday night (March 17) a small fire was reported at the back of Lurgan hospital, No patients were affected.

Commenting on the recent incidents, a spokesperson for the Southern Health and Social Care Trust said: “There have been a number of minor incidents on the Craigavon Area Hospital site recently for which we have called the Fire Service and as a precaution evacuated some of our buildings until we were assured they were safe.

“Local people will appreciate how busy the Craigavon site is every day and as we cannot compromise the safety of anyone, must treat every incident seriously.

“Thankfully because of our robust fire detection systems and vigilance of staff, alarms were raised immediately and health and safety procedures activated.

“There was also a small fire at the back of Lurgan Hospital on Thursday 17th March which caused minor smoke damage.

“Thankfully no one has been injured through any of these recent events and whilst there has been some very temporary traffic disruption, no services have been affected.

“After each incident, we have undertaken a full multiagency debriefing to review our safety protocols and ensure we are taking all necessary precautions.

“We would like to thank our staff and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service for their ongoing support and to all of those who use our services for their understanding and co-operation.”