'Critical incident' at city hospital stood down

A hospital has stood down a critical incident sparked by a power cut and fire.

The Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) was evacuated at around 14:30 on Friday and generators were used to power the intensive care unit and ensure some operations could continue.

The hospital's A&E is now open and patients should attend their appointments as planned, unless they have been contacted by the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) .

The trust has confirmed it ended the internal critical incident on Saturday at 14:30.

Dr Rebecca Maxwell, interim chief medical officer at UHBW, said: “Thanks to the amazing efforts of our colleagues, we have made good progress in restoring our services and have now stood down our internal critical incident.

“Our Emergency Departments are open for urgent and emergency patients.

"Patients with appointments should attend as planned unless we have contacted them directly, and we welcome visitors back to our hospitals.”

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, external, X, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.