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Locked fire door

Story from nhs.uk

"Locked fire door"

About: North Tyneside General Hospital

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Visiting a relative in the emergency care centre, it was warm and a nurse decided to open a fire door to let some fresh air in. To my amazement, she used a key to unlock a door marked 'Fire Door Keep Clear' and wedged it open.

Why was a marked fire door locked with a key not available to others? Whatever happened to common sense?

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Responses

Response from North Tyneside General Hospital 10 years ago
North Tyneside General Hospital

Submitted on 15/05/2013 at 13:31
Published on nhs.uk on 16/05/2013 at 03:15

Dear Sir / Madam,

Many thanks for getting in touch to raise your concerns with regards to the wedged open fire door - I can fully understand why you would want to. We have spoken to the staff of the Emergency Care Unit (ECU) and to the Fire Safety Officers to investigate this concern.

This fire door is a one way evacuation for patients from the Intensive Care Unit across the court yard and into the Emergency Care Unit. It is not used for evacuation from ECU. The door can be locked with a key from the inside, but for the staff evacuating from ITU they can easily open the door without a key through a turn handle. So in the case of an emergency there would not no need to locate the keys.

I hope this helps but if you would like to discuss this further please contact me on annie.laverty@nhct.nhs.uk

Many thanks,

Annie

Annie Laverty - Director of Patient Experience.

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