Queen Mary Hospital announces safety incident of hospital facility

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
 
     The spokesman for Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) made the following announcement today (October 24) regarding a hospital facility safety incident:
 
     At around 2.30pm today, a piece of thermal insulation material, which is approximately one metre by half a metre, along with some concrete fragments, fell from the ceiling of the patient catering kitchen on the seventh floor of the Main Block. No staff was working in the area at the time and no one was injured. Patient catering services remain normal.

     QMH immediately cordoned off the concerned area for an urgent inspection and repair. Upon preliminary investigation, it is believed that the incident was caused by the aging of insulation materials. Taking into account the long service years of the kitchen as well as the high temperature and humidity working environment while handling patient catering daily, which may cause the ceiling materials to age more easily, the hospital has scheduled ceiling maintenance works in the kitchen by phases starting from this April. Half of the related works have been completed already. The maintenance works for the concerned area this time were originally scheduled at the end of next month. During the time, the hospital has conducted regular inspection. The last inspection at this area was in July this year with no abnormalities found. 

     The hospital had reported the incident to the Hospital Authority Head Office via the Advance Incident Reporting System and further inspections will be arranged to ensure the safety.