|
|
 |
| |
Health centre staff John Kaye, Davida Wulff-Vanderpuije, Dr Hannah Flinders, and Gillian Wisdom.
|
The doctor will see you now… by candlelight
Day-long power cut hits surgery and plunges estate into darkness
PATIENTS at a state-of-the-art doctors’ surgery were treated by candlelight when a power cut plunged 3,000 homes and businesses into darkness on Friday.
Bingfield Street Health Centre, off Caledonian Road, King’s Cross, was hit by the day-long power cut which put newly-installed computer systems and delicate medical equipment out of action.
GP Hannah Flinders, who runs the practice, said: “It meant having to dig up old medical records because now we don’t ordinarily keep a manual record of many things.
“In the evening surgery, the patients were saying how much they liked the candles and how relaxing it was to have a surgery lit by candlelight.”
One of the main problems was the electronically-controlled doors, which either had to be left open or shut. Dr Flinders, 45, said: “Because the front door had to be kept open, as the day went on it meant the waiting room got colder and colder.”
The health centre has 2,300 patients, with Dr Flinders seeing about 40 a day.
Crucially, there was no power for the oxygen cylinders used by patients with breathing difficulties. Staff were unable to operate the nebulisers, which convert drugs into a fine mist using an aerosol.
Even the baby scales failed and expensive vaccines stored in fridges were in danger of being ruined.
An emergency generator provided power for three hours in the morning, but when that ran out torches and candles came out until the lights came on again at 8.30pm.
Meanwhile, residents in streets surrounding the surgery and on the Bemerton estate were stuck without power.
EDF Energy, which supplies the electricity, set up an emergency station serving hot drinks and providing torches.
An EDF spokesman said: “EDF Energy Networks engineers managed to restore supplies to nearly 700 customers within 15 minutes. They continued to work throughout the day and the majority of customers had power restored by 6pm. The engineers continued to work through the evening and into the early hours to provide supplies to the remaining customers.
“We sincerely apologises to customers for any inconvenience caused.”
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
