SIXTEEN female patients and 13 new-born babies had to be evacuated from two of Whiston Hospital's maternity wards on Sunday evening after a suspected fumes leak.

Earlier, staff had complained of sore throats and stinging eyes and when a patient reported similar symptoms the decision to evacuate the wards was taken at about 11pm.

A spokeswoman for Whiston Hospital said: "We evacuated patients from a maternity and adjacent gynaecology ward as a precautionary measure when staff first started complaining of having sore throats. The fire brigade were then called out to examine the area but were unable to identify any fire-related problem concerning the leak."

She added: "We transferred the mums and babies to another maternity ward, and the gynaecology patients to general wards; but following extensive examinations by hospital engineers using specialist equipment, we could find no reason for the fumes leak.

"However, I can reassure patients that we don't believe there is any cause for concern."

All the patients affected have now been moved back into the wards but the incident led to a number of admissions being cancelled.

A spokesman for Mersey Regional Ambulance Service, told the Star: "We were called out as a precaution when reports of gas fumes were made but nothing was found. However, we were able to assist staff in moving the patients to a separate ward so that a full examination of the area could be made."

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