UK Hospitals Advised to Check Security Measures After Blast in Liverpool, Reports Say

LONDON (Sputnik) - The National Health Service (NHS) of England advised all hospitals in the country to check their security measures after a car blast outside a hospital in Liverpool, the Guardian reported on Tuesday, citing its own sources.

According to the newspaper, the NHS is currently finalizing a new safety manual, which will be sent to the heads of English hospitals in the near future. They will be instructed to check whether security measures are sufficient and whether the staff knows what to do in case of terrorist attack.

The NHS reportedly decided to take measures after the police declared the blast a terrorist incident and the UK terror threat level was raised from "substantial" to "severe ". At the same time, the sources stressed that the existing security systems in hospitals are already considered adequate.

"The point of the guidance is not [for hospitals] to go to the point of having massive security," one of the sources. told the Guardian.

There is reportedly no reason to think that there is a terrorist threat to British hospitals in general.

On Sunday, a taxi exploded near the Women's Hospital in Liverpool, leaving one man dead and another one injured. The police classified the incident as an act of terrorism. Four people have been arrested so far in connection with the attack. Detectives believe that the passenger who died in the explosion was the one who was carrying an improvised explosive device in the taxi, whose driver managed to get out.