No fire drills 'for years' at Medway Maritime hospital

A hospital which was placed in special measures had no fire drills for up to three years, the BBC has discovered.

Building works at Medway Maritime could have compromised the integrity fire resistant walls, Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) found.

In a report the fire service said the hospital had no senior manager in charge of fire safety management.

The trust said since KFRS's inspection a fire officer had been put in place and fire drills conducted.

Medway NHS Foundation Trust was one of 11 in England put into special measures on 16 July 2013.

A report produced by KFRS, following a review carried out between May and July, said: "Uncontrolled building and maintenance work, particularly the routing of cables, pipes and other services through a compartment wall, may have a detrimental effect on the integrity and fire resistance of the wall."

The fire service said false ceilings, which create a hidden void above "can also hamper the assessment and management of compartment walls."

KFRS also highlighted the need for training of staff in some departments, including in the high dependency unit, and those who have special responsibilities including piped medical gases which may need to be isolated during a fire.

The report said: "There hadn't been any form of practical fire drill or fire warden training in the past two to three years."

In a statement, the fire service said: "While KFRS was satisfied at the time there was no immediate fire risk to staff, patients or visitors, significant fire safety recommendations were outlined in the report."

Darren Cattell, director of finance at the hospital trust, said: "As a result of the findings presented in the review, we are now able to tackle and address all areas of concern.

"This has also included the appointment of a permanent fire officer into post, fire drills conducted on a regular basis [and] computerised evacuation exercises for high dependency patient areas."

He said the trust was "well on the way" to being fully compliant with the fire service's recommendations.