PERFORMANCE: A fire occurred at Crawley Hospital during the afternoon of Tuesday 28 August, mostly affecting two wards.

Services were disrupted on Comet Ward, which normally runs a medical day unit, a haematology clinic, and a chemotherapy service.

The chemotherapy service has temporary been transferred to East Surrey Hospital’s chemotherapy suite.

In addition, all new DVT patients are being transferred to East Surrey’s AMU department. Non-urgent appointments are being rearranged with the individual patients concerned.

Other services, such as existing DVT patients and blood transfusions, are being run out of the Harmoni Rooms at Crawley Hospital.

The trust said Comet Ward staff have been told that “they are not going to be able to return” to the ward this week.

A second ward affected by the fire, Jumbo Ward, runs clinics on Thursdays and Fridays. Therefore no patients have been cancelled.

“Arrangements are being reviewed every 24 hours to ensure minimum disruption to patients and to avoid safety risks,” the trust said.