Wexford General Hospital will soon be holding talks with the ESB to prevent further power black-outs after six patients had to be transferred last night.
Hospital manager Teresa Hanrahan said the back-up generators failed to work when a black-out struck the area around 8.20pm yesterday. Power was returned to the hospital at around 12.50 a.m.
Ms Hanrahan said the fault lay with the high tension switch gear as the generators were in perfect working order. "There was a fault on the high tension switch gear, which switches the ESB to the generator, while it is owned by the hospital, it is maintained and serviced by the ESB," she said.
Hospital manager Teresa Hanrahan
"They were here last night and they brought back the power to us last night at twenty past twelve and certainly we will be talking to them this morning," she said.
Kevin McDermott of the ESB said there appeared to be a misunderstanding or an assumption made over the maintenance of the equipment.
"They made the assumption it was maintained by the ESB because they presumed there was nobody else in the country who could actually maintain it," he said.
Mr McDermott said: "If we had a maintenance contract or if we were responsible for maintaining it you can rest assured we would be maintaining it. This is hospital equipment and it is not the ESB network's responsibility."
Wexford General Hospital acknowledges that no "formal contract" exists and says that this will be addressed at the meeting.
While backup generators were able to provide some power, hospital activities were curtailed as a result and a decision was taken to move a six patients 40 miles to Waterford General Hospital.
One of the patients was on a ventilator, while two others were maternity patients. Three people being treated in accident and emergency were also relocated.
Dr Liam Twomey, a Fine Gael TD for Wexford, said the life of a mother and her newborn baby could have been at risk if one of the two women awaiting a caesarian section had been in the operating theatre when the power failed.
"Two state organisations, the Health Services Executive and the ESB, must clearly state what went wrong when Wexford General Hospital was without power for four hours," Dr Twomey said.
"The swift action by management and staff in dealing with this crisis saved lives but the situation which unfolded is a matter for extreme concern." Ms Hanrahan insisted that "patient care was not compromised" and credited hospital staff who "all rose to the emergency."
As many as 400 homes remain without electricity in the Wexford area. Power is expected to be restored this afternoon.
Brendan Howlin, a Labour Party TD for Wexford, said a review of the hospital back-up facilities must be carried out immediately.