A Great Ormond Street hospital source describes the facility as "falling apart" after a power cut forced the cancellation of six children's surgeries on Thursday morning. The incident is one of several recent issues, including leaks and an electrocution incident, that have affected the hospital's theatres in the past few weeks. Over 60 incidents affecting clinical services have been reported at GOSH since it provides care to over 75,000 young people each year, with a £16 billion backlog in maintenance across English hospitals. The source claims maintenance is poor at the hospital.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-07,
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same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Great Ormond Street Hospital in London experienced a power cut that halted children's surgery on Thursday morning, forcing the suspension of operations on six children. The hospital declared the incident, but all theatres resumed operation by the end of the day and affected children have either had their procedures or are scheduled for this week. This is just one of many recent issues at the hospital, with a leakage in two operating theaters and an electrocution incident in another reported in the past few weeks. Additionally, two nurses received an electric shock from a light switch during an operation just a week ago. The hospital's board has warned that problems with its estate could affect patient care due to a large backlog of maintenance work. Over 60 incidents have affected clinical services at GOSH since last year, including power cuts, leaks, and ventilation breakdowns.
Written for “London Hospital Crisis Fades” on 2026-09-07,
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Leaning score -0.35 for article 6228 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-09-07
Operations on six children had to be stopped when the hospital declared the incident on Thursday morning.
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hospital → have → morning
All theatres resumed operation by the end of the day, and the affected children have either had their procedures or are booked in for this week.
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children → resume → week
One source told The Times: “The place is falling apart.
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place → tell → Times
We already had four or five theatres out of action in the past few weeks, two because of leaks and one because of the electrocution incident.
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theatres → have → incident
”
It comes just a week after two nurses were given an electric shock by a light switch in an operating theatre before an operation.
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nurses → come → operation
GOSH provides specialist care to over 75,000 young people across the UK every year.
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GOSH → provide → UK
During that period, the trust reported more than 60 incidents where clinical services were affected by failures such as power cuts, leaks, and ventilation breakdowns.
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services → report → cuts
The trust’s board has warned that the ability to deliver patient care could be affected by problems with its estate.
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ability → warn → estate
Read More
More than £4 billion was diverted from capital budgets between 2014 and 2019, delaying essential repairs and replacements, with hospitals across England facing a £16 billion backlog in maintenance.
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hospitals → read → maintenance
Around £3.5 billion worth of repairs and investment are classed as high risk, meaning that the work is urgently needed to prevent catastrophic failures, serious injuries or major service disruptions.
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work → class → failures
The government unveiled a ten-year plan for capital investment in the NHS in July, which will include rebuilding hundreds of GP surgeries, updating hospital infrastructure and investing in new computer systems.
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which → unveil → systems
Ministers have pledged to increase the NHS capital budget to £15 billion a year by 2029-30.
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Ministers → pledge → 2029
A spokesman for the trust said: “We have a well-maintained estate, supported by sustained investment in improvement works, however in recent weeks we have experienced a number of issues with our complex theatre infrastructure.
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we → say → infrastructure
None of these incidents have resulted in any patient safety issues.
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None → result → issues
“Due to the complexity of our patients, we take a very cautious approach and do not hesitate to close patient spaces if there are any concerns.”
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we → take → spaces
