Fire service called to 'chemical incident' at Fairfield Hospital

Emergency services at Fairfield Hospital

Fire crews were called to Fairfield Hospital in Bury after reports of a 'chemical incident' in which three people were assessed by medical staff.

Paramedics assisted Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service after calls that peracetic acid had been spilled on hospital grounds and needed urgently clearing up.

Greater Manchester Police were alerted to the incident and have been on standby, but have not been called to attend the incident at the Rochdale Old Road hospital.

Peracetic acid is a strong disinfectant which is known to be highly corrosive when in contact with the skin.

The three people who were attended to turned out not to have injuries and were in fact checked out as a precautionary measure.

A spokesperson for The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We can confirm that today a minor chemical spillage involving some cleaning fluid leaking from a plastic container was reported at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury on ward 3 which is our Endoscopy Unit. The safety of our staff and patients are our utmost priority and therefore the Fire Service was informed and attended on scene in response to the incident due to the involvement of a potentially hazardous chemical.

“Despite no immediate risk to the public, as a matter of precaution a small number of staff and patients were evacuated from the unit. The Fire Service has been working with our teams to ensure the area is safe and the unit has undergone a deep clean. We successfully implemented our emergency plan and this went to plan. We would like to apologise to those patients who were affected by the temporary closure of the unit and for the inconvenience this caused during their appointment.”