Nottinghamshire hospital drill goes ahead despite doctors' strike

Staff at King's Mill Hospital wore protective suits as part of the exercise

A hospital boss has defended the decision to stage a mock chemical spill training exercise on a day senior doctors were on strike,

The exercise was held at King's Mill Hospital at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, on Thursday.

Hospital director of strategy, David Ainsworth, denied going ahead had put staff under unnecessary pressure.

"Absolutely not, because eventualities like this do not wait for industrial action to finish," he said.

"We do have days in our hospital, as part of the normal running of services, where we have fewer senior people around - bank holidays are a good example."

Staff were presented with a number of "casualties" resulting from a fictitious chemical spill.

A decontamination tent was inflated in the car park and some staff had to wear protective suits.

Staff at the hospital were not given any warning of the drill

The exercise took place on the first day of a 48-hour walk-out by hospital consultants, their first for 11 years.

Thousands of consultants had walked out from 07:00 BST in their national dispute over pay.

Managers said the fact the drill coincided with the strike made it more realistic.

The exercise had been kept a secret from staff and the first they were aware of it was when a call was received on the hospital's emergency line.

The scenario involved a tanker carrying battery acid crashing into a shop on a busy road.

Mark Stone, emergency planning officer, said: "It is only through regular testing and exercise we find out what gaps we have got.

"Are the people trained properly? Do they know their roles? Does the equipment work?

"So it is essential we do this testing."

Staff nurse Leona Calladine said: "We have had a few goes at it - not to this extent - but I think it has gone really well."