Plans for Nottinghamshire fire service to stop attending automatic alarms at hospitals

Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service automatically attends fire alarm activations for buildings including hospitals, nursing homes, sheltered housing, flats and heritage sites.

Hospitals across the county account for 10 per cent of all “unwanted fire signals” – automatic fire alarm activations which have been caused by something other than a fire – including incidents involving light fittings, microwaves, cotton bud fires and overheated extractor fans.

Between April and September 2022 there were 143 call-outs to Sutton’s King’s Mill Hospital, run by Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust, and Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre, run by Nottingham University Hospitals.

The trusts said they have “well-tested plans in place” to deal with incidents.

Of the 143 call-outs, 3.5 per cent were found to be fires – none of which had spread.

Now, there are plans for NFRS to stop attending automatic fire alarm calls from hospitals between 7am and 7pm from April 2023, unless there is also a 999 call.

The move is part of recommendations to achieve the National Fire Chief’s Council target of reducing unwanted fire signals by 10 per cent by 2025.

NFRS said engagement with hospitals will “commence immediately” to ensure they are “prepared for this change”, which will save about £300 per unwanted fire signal reduction.

NFRS documents state: “Hospitals are professionally managed premises with good levels of fire protection, with well trained and competent members of staff.

“During waking hours, it is noted hospitals operate with a sizeable number of staff, therefore in the event of a fire, trained staff are on hand to firstly investigate then call for assistance in a brief period of time.”

As part of the plans to reduce the number of calls, NFRS is also planning to investigate and consult on proposals to introduce charging for persistent offenders.

Over the last five years, unwanted fire signals have accounted for about 35 per cent of all fire incidents attended by NFRS.

In 2021/22, NFRS responded to 3,480 unwanted fire signals, down from 3,793 in 2017/18.

Going to false alarms “does impact on the service’s ability to respond to other emergencies, it also impacts on the amount of time available to focus on reducing risk through critical prevention and protection work”, NFRS documents stated.

A joint statement from SFH and NUH said: “All our public services have a duty to ensure their precious resources are used in the most efficient and effective way possible.

“We have well-tested plans in place to deal with a range of incidents and eventualities to ensure patients can continue to access the treatment they need safely, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We are committed to working alongside NFRS to fully understand the impact of these proposals and to find a resolution that ensures the safety of the patients and the public both organisations are proud to serve.”

The fire authority will be asked to support the proposals during a meeting on Friday, January 6.