Phone lines are back on at the Countess of Chester Hospital after incoming calls went down for about two-and-a-half hours over lunchtime today (Friday, November 27).
The Countess says the problem lay with the external provider.
Contingency plans were in place to switch to mobile and digital communications including the use of social media such as Twitter where a message was posted which read: “We are sorry you are unable to get in touch with us to find out about your loved ones. Our incoming calls are down.”
Phones were provided to any patients who suspected family and friends may be trying to get hold of them.
Lorraine Burnett, director of operations at The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This matter related to incoming calls to our switchboard between 11.55am and 2.30pm. This was not an internal telephone system failure and we worked with our third party supplier to resolve the problem.
“During this disruption, hospital services have been operating as normal – in situations like this we have contingency plans in place to switch to secure mobile and digital communications systems.
“Our main concern has been to ensure loved ones calling to speak with relatives can be kept informed, so our nurses worked quickly to make phones available for patients to call anyone who may be trying to get hold of them.”
Illustrating the issues caused by the phone problems was a tweet from one individual to the Countess who asked if the hospital could direct message him as he was 'trying to contact ITU (Intensive Therapy Unit) as a matter of urgency'.
