Hospital lifts incident alert at radiotherapy units

The hospital said a number of planned appointments were cancelled

A critical incident affecting a Surrey hospital's radiotherapy services has been lifted.

Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford, said a "telecoms issue" affected its cancer centre and its unit at the East Surrey Hospital, in Redhill, for several hours on Tuesday.

A spokesperson has confirmed the incident had now been stepped down and the affected departments were fully operational.

The hospital said a number of planned appointments were cancelled on Tuesday and that affected patients had been contacted.

In a statement, the hospital said: "We have re-gained access to our radiotherapy system and are now able to provide treatment at both our Guildford and Redhill sites."

It said all patients who had their treatment postponed were being contacted to reschedule appointments as soon as possible.

"We sincerely apologise for any disruption caused to people as a result of the loss of service," the statement added.

Patients due to have radiotherapy treatment were asked to attend appointments as normal unless contacted directly by the team.