Southampton General Hospital remains in critical incident as a result of the fire which caused significant damage on 1 February.

Dr Lara Alloway, NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight's chief medical officer, said: ‘The long-term knock-on effects of the loss of bed space in Southampton and the increased demand at other hospitals as a result, will last for some time and be felt much wider than the Southampton area.

‘This will create significant challenges for all our services at what is already one of the busiest times of the year for the NHS.'

In its latest update on 3 February, University Hospital Southampton said a number of its wards remained closed due to fire, smoke or water damage.

The hospital's emergency department has resumed a limited amount of elective surgery, prioritising the most urgent cases.

Over 500 patients were moved following incident with 200 being care for in temporary spaces while work was carried out to transfer some to other hospitals.

Work was still being carried out to reunite some patients with their personal possessions after they were moved following the fire.