Southampton General Hospital fire likely to hit city council's finances
It could have a knock-on effect for the local authority
The major fire at Southampton General Hospital is set to have an impact on the city council’s finances.
The blaze in the west wing of hospital on the morning of February 1 saw more than 500 patients evacuated to other parts of the site.
University Hospital Southampton bosses said in the days after the incident, which destroyed the endoscopy unit, around 200 patients were moved out of the hospital.
This included placements in other care settings across Hampshire.
Southampton City Council’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday, February 24, heard this could have a knock-on effect for the local authority.
Simon Letts, councillor responsible for finance, said: “At the end of January we are sitting at £1.18million underspend.
“There is a slight issue that may put on an additional cost and that is in relation to the fire at the hospital.
“Obviously, that has impacted on the local health and social care infrastructure and has required a number of patients to be moved from the hospital into nursing care facilities.
“We would then be responsible for the non-nursing element of that and that may put an additional strain on our budget in the final couple of months of the budget year.”
The Labour cabinet heard the next update on the council’s finances would come with the outturn report for 2025/26, which will be published in July.