Services, appointments, treatments and emergencies will be - hopefully - getting back to normal at Southmead Hospital in north Bristol today, 24 hours after a bomb hoax that sparked dramatic scenes.
One man is still in police custody as hospital staff and the public were praised by bosses at the North Bristol NHS Trust for their quick thinking and patience in dealing with what was declared a major incident.
The drama began mid-morning. The exact details of what happened in the Accident and Emergency department are unconfirmed at the moment, but it focussed on a man who walked into the A&E reception area.
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The man, unusually for someone attending A&E, had several bags with him, and at some point within a few minutes of his arrival, had told staff one of them contained a bomb.
The threat was taken seriously and the response was swift and comprehensive. Staff at the A&E department have procedures in place for such an incident, and they were quickly followed. Police were called within seconds and while the man was detained by security, an evacuation was undertaken.
First, that meant the patients who were in the immediate area of the waiting room of the A&E department. Staff and then the patients who were going through or were already triaged were also evacuated.
The A&E department at Southmead Hospital is part of a bigger unit that includes the Minor Injuries Unit that has a separate door on the other side of the building. That MIU department was also evacuated, which involved many people who were waiting to be seen for injuries and conditions that were less serious - but still serious enough to take them to hospital that morning.
Initially, patients were taken out to the car park area. This end of Southmead Hospital has a large space around it, with waiting bays for ambulances and a network of car parks and roads. The patients who were being treated at the time were taken into the car parks and the treatment continued. Luckily, it was a fairly mild Spring morning, not raining and not too cold.
But the police who arrived quickly advised that the evacuation needed to be bigger and that everyone in the car park areas should get as far away from the building as possible. More staff and patients were evacuated too - the A&E unit is on the ground floor, and on the floors above it are other departments where people were being seen as outpatients.
So those in charge of the hospital quickly enacted the next part of the major emergency plan. One phone call to Horfield Leisure Centre - at the end of the road just 600 yards away - and the leisure centre staff were preparing to welcome a temporary and mobile A&E unit, where patients and staff were taken.
The most serious patients were taken in a small fleet of patient transport vehicles and ambulances. The less serious were placed in wheelchairs and joined the patients and family who were able to walk the short distance up Dorian Way, through a residential area, to the leisure centre.
The sight, along with police putting up cordon tapes and closing off their road, led to concern among residents of Dorian Way, who described it as 'carnage' as patients were wheeled past their front doors.
Back at the hospital itself, the EOD, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit - the bomb squad - had arrived, and carefully began to examine the bags left in the A&E department, as police arrested the man who made the threats and claims.
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The tentative examination concluded and the bomb squad officers gave the all-clear - it was a hoax, the man didn't have a bomb. He was arrested on suspicion of causing a bomb hoax - an offence almost as serious as having a bomb itself, given the effects on the hospital.
And those effects lasted all day. Part of the North Bristol NHS Trust's major emergency plan saw all visitors asked to stay away from the hospital, and all outpatient appointments cancelled for the rest of the day.
That blanket cancellation was later relaxed slightly, as some patients in certain departments were told their later afternoon appointments would be upheld. But for many outpatient departments, Thursday, March 10, was a write-off.
Back at the A&E unit and the Minor Injuries Unit, the sight of the last fire engine to leave at around 2pm wasn't the end of the matter. Staff there had all left in a hurry, and needed almost an hour to get themselves sorted with the patients they were bringing back from the leisure centre, reassemble the kit they'd taken down there, and clean up after the sudden evacuation. It wasn't until around 3pm that both units reopened to new patients.
"We’d like to thank the public for their support during this time and their help in keeping our staff and patients safe," said a spokesperson for North Bristol NHS Trust.
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"We’d also like to thank staff for their quick actions and responsiveness. Our Emergency Department and surrounding areas have now reopened, and visiting has been reinstated," they added in a statement issued towards the end of the afternoon. "Outpatient appointments remain cancelled for the remainder of the day in order for us to deal with the knock-on effects of today’s incident," the trust added.
"We apologise for this disruption and thank the public for their patience. There are exceptions - outpatient appointments will continue in: Women’s and Children’s; the Breast Centre; Dialysis; Chemotherapy in the Medical Day Unit and the Rosa Burden Brain Centre.
"Thank you to our local healthcare partners, Avon and Somerset Police and Avon Fire & Rescue Service for their help in managing this incident. Anyone needing urgent medical help should contact NHS 111," the trust added.
Avon and Somerset police issued a series of updates to the situation as events unfolded yesterday. The key one was at around 1pm and said that a man had been arrested and that everything was safe.
"Armed officers arrested a man at Southmead Hospital’s A&E department this morning after he claimed to be in possession of explosives.
"A cordon was put in place while the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit examined a number of bags. This cordon has now been lifted after the EOD declared the area safe.
"As a precaution, A&E was evacuated while the incident was dealt with and the North Bristol NHS Trust declared a major incident due to the wider impact on NHS services. The major incident has now been stood down.
"The man arrested has been detained on suspicion of making a bomb hoax and remains in police custody. We do not believe this incident to be terrorism-related."
Read more: Man walked into A&E and claimed to have explosives
North Bristol Neighbourhood Inspector Lorna Dallimore added: “I appreciate the concern this incident may have caused residents and patients and I’d like to reassure them there were no injuries and there is no risk to the wider public.
“The emergency services have well-rehearsed plans for dealing with major incidents. We’re immensely grateful for the public’s patience while emergency services attended the scene and ensured the area was safe.
“Neighbourhood officers are in the area and I’d encourage anyone with any concerns to speak to them directly or alternatively contact their neighbourhood team via 101.”
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