Women and babies have been at risk of death by electrocution in Blackpool Victoria Hospital's maternity theatres

Bosses at the Vic, in Whinney Heys Road, closed the theatre and are now poised to spend more than £250,000 putting the issue right

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A Daily Telegraph ‘investigation’ said it had uncovered lots of damning new failings to report at Blackpool Victoria Hospital at the weekend. It turned out, to our shock, to be instead repeating the reporting we and others have done on the topic.

Today’s newsletter does tell you something new - women and babies being operated on at one of the site’s two maternity theatres have been at risk of death by “electrocution and catastrophic equipment failure”.

It is the latest in our regular, consistent reporting on what’s happening at The Vic.

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Women and babies have been at risk of death by electrocution in Vic’s maternity theatres

Reception at Blackpool Victoria Hospital

By Michael Holmes

Women and babies being operated on at one of Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s two maternity theatres have been at risk of death by “electrocution and catastrophic equipment failure”, it can today be revealed.

The facility “remains unsafe for clinical use due to unresolved electrical and mechanical infrastructure risks”, with basic electrical safety protection missing, hospital documents obtained by The Blackpool Lead show.

Bosses at the Vic, in Whinney Heys Road, have closed the theatre and are now poised to spend more than £250,000 putting the issue right - though that could take months.

In the meantime, operations are being held elsewhere, with elective Caesareans being done in the main theatre complex, where there is “compliant power”, and a second theatre available round-the-clock as a back-up - with guaranteed sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings for C-sections.

That could have a knock-on impact, hospital chiefs admit, with a “loss of available sessions for the broader elective programme”.

“The current arrangements require capacity within the main theatre footprint which displaces other speciality activity,” papers obtained by The Blackpool Lead say.

And scheduled C-sections - though not emergency ones - could be done on weekends, though there are concerns at the hospital about “delivering high-risk activity on weekends when the service operates with an on-call structure”.

The Vic’s chief operating officer, Janet Barnsley, told The Blackpool Lead in an emailed statement: “One of our two maternity theatres has been closed while work takes place to modernise it.

“We are hopeful this will be completed early next year.

“We do not make the decision to close a theatre lightly and this was taken after careful assessment.

“Our second maternity theatre remains open and fully operational, with the hospital’s main theatre complex providing any additional capacity required while the work takes place.”

A risk assessment was carried out in September, with ventilation in the theatres found to have “inadequate airflow, leading to airborne contamination and failure of infection control”, with patients at an increased risk of catching infections and medics exposed to airborne pathogens.

And an ageing electrical infrastructure and limited redundancy effectively mean vital, life-saving equipment would stop working in the event of a power cut.

The crash alarm system was deemed to be “unreliable/obsolete”, with the “potential for (a) delayed emergency response”.