Fire at The Becklin Centre

There was a fire on Ward 5 at the Becklin Centre in Leeds in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Ward 5 is a ward for adult females who have complex and acute mental health needs which need to be managed in a 24 hour care service.

Twenty patients were evacuated from Ward 5 immediately and one was taken to hospital as a precaution after inhaling smoke but has since been discharged back to our care. Patients were temporarily moved from two neighbouring wards as a precaution but were allowed back once the fire was put out. One patient was taken into police custody and has been bailed to secure accommodation.

Due to the fire damage, Ward 5 will be closed for several months and patients have been moved to a temporary ward at Lynfield Mount Hospital in Bradford. They have settled in well.

The Trust’s Chief Executive, Sara Munro, said: “The safety and wellbeing of our patients is our first priority. All the patients from Ward 5 were safely accommodated within the Becklin Centre in the short term, but there is no spare capacity. We are grateful to our colleagues at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust for offering us accommodation and we thank the Police, fire service and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust for their prompt response and support on the night.

“I also want to acknowledge the fantastic efforts of all our staff – those who kept our patients safe and calm as the incident unfolded and pulled together in line with our emergency response plans and those who have been working so hard to make sure we could get the ward in Bradford up and running safely within a few hours. Those patients are safe and well and remain in our care”.