Fire chiefs slap enforcement notices on Telford hospital
Fire chiefs have slapped two enforcement notices on Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital after finding a ‘range of issues’, a meeting heard.
The notices follow five visits to the PRH by the county’s fire service in November and December 2025 where officials found a issues including damage to fire doors which are being bashed into by trolleys.
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The visits resulted in Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service withdrawing support for how it deals with the hospital being full, known as the Hospital Full Protocol.
It deals with where patients are placed and means of escape, and SaTH has been given until April 26 to produce an alternative protocol.
Leaders at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) were told that it was the first such audit for 14 years and fire doors will be replaced.
The audit found a range of issues including fire compartmentation, storage of oxygen cylinders and other materials on escape routes, issues with training in fire safety, obstruction of fire exits and overcrowding.
The trust board meeting was told on Thursday (March 12) that many of the risks had already been dealt with but replacing damaged fire doors took longer to fix.
The doors are currently held open with magnetic catches and trolleys bashed into some, causing damage even to new doors.
The meeting was told that hospital staff with trolleys and other equipment will be reminded to ‘drive carefully and gracefully’ down the corridors.
Rosi Edwards, a non executive director who chairs the trust’s performance assurance committee, said: “It is important to drive carefully and gracefully rather than dodgem car style.”
Matthew Neal, SaTH’s director of hospital transformation, said orders have been placed for new fire doors and ‘temporary measures’ have been put in place to deal with issues.
Paula Gardner, the trust’s interim chief nursing officer, told the meeting that work has been carried out to ensure fire evacuation plans are in place and staff know what they must do.
