Fire disrupts services

DAMAGE DONE: The steriliser which caught on fire at Wairarapa Hospital last Friday.

Electrical fault likely to have started blaze in Wairarapa Hospital

Operations at Wairarapa Hospital will be back to normal soon, after a fire disrupted surgery services a week ago.

Seven patients needing acute surgery who would have normally been operated on at the hospital had to be transferred to either Hutt Hospital or Wellington Hospital.

The fire broke out in the hospital's Central Sterile Supply Department around 2am, Friday week, and was extinguished by Masterton Fire crew and automatic sprinklers.

Fire crew said the cause of fire appeared to be an electrical fault in one of the sterilisers.

Soot from the fire contaminated surgical supplies and equipment, temporarily closing the department.

It also caused smoke damage to nearby theatres in the hospital.

The theatres have since been cleaned and some elective surgery has been done, with instruments cleaned at Hutt Hospital's Sterile Supply Department.

Some Wairarapa CSSD staff have been travelling to Hutt Hospital to assist with the cleaning.

Staff have been contacting patients who are scheduled for operations and may be affected by the disruption.

Regular hospital services are expected to be back to normal by the end of this week.