Planned electrical shut down at hospital
There will be a planned electrical shutdown at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness on the morning of Saturday September 7 to allow Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution to carry out essential maintenance work.
Jo Veasey, Divisional General Manager for Medical and Diagnostics at Raigmore Hospital, explained that the work, which is routine, will be done in the morning and plans are already in place to ensure any disruption to the running of the hospital is kept to a minimum.
Mrs Veasey said: “To allow Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution’s, (SHEPD) engineers to carry out essential maintenance work the mains power must be turned off.
“Raigmore Hospital already has a number of generators in place which will power essential supplies and we have hired in another two for the day to ensure that our CT scanner and angio suite can run if needed. This will allow us to provide the same level of diagnostic care we would have on a normal weekend.”
The hospital will be switched over to generator power before the mains power is actually switched off and estates staff, as well as members of the senior management team, will be on site throughout should they be needed.
The work is due to start and 6am on the September 7 and it is expected to go on for six hours.
During the power shutdown the hospital will only have four operational lifts. Patient meals will be served as normal, but the dining room will not be able to open to members of the public or staff.
Mrs Veasey said: “We have tried to keep the disruption to a minimum and anyone having to attend the hospital that day should not notice much of a difference to the service compared to any other weekend.
“We have also extended the opening hours of our front cafe to minimise the impact of the dining room being unable to open in the morning.
“We would ask that for everyone’s cooperation during the period of work to ensure it runs as smoothly as possible.”
A spokesman for Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution said: "We have been working actively with NHS Highland since the start of this year to plan this routine but essential maintenance to the hospital's electricity supply.
"The timing of the work has been arranged to keep the impact upon hospital services to a minimum and we will be dedicating significant staff resources to complete the job as quickly and safely as possible. By carrying out routine maintenance in this way, we are seeking to ensure that Raigmore's power supply remains as secure as it can be in the years ahead.
"We will continue to keep in close touch with hospital staff throughout our work to ensure that everything runs smoothly and that care for patients can continue."
