Critical incident at hospital stood down

A critical incident due to a norovirus outbreak has been stood down, said a hospital trust.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust declared a critical incident at East Surrey Hospital, in Redhill, on Monday after continued high levels of the winter vomiting bug.

It said on Saturday it was extending temporary visiting restrictions to its wards, with the exception of patients receiving end-of-life care and maternity wards, as services remain "very busy" with a high number of norovirus cases still across the site.

Additional infection control measures are also in place at the hospital to help reduce the spread of norovirus.

Dr Ed Cetti, Chief Medical Officer at the trust, said: "Thank you to all those who have supported our services in responding to this outbreak over recent days.

"While we are able to step down the incident, there continues to be a very high number of norovirus cases across our hospital and significant demand in our emergency department."

People are being asked to consider alternatives to the emergency department while the hospital is still busy and people with norovirus symptoms, including diarrhoea or vomiting in the past 48 hours, are being asked not to go to the site.

The trust advised people should continue to use pharmacies, GP practices, walk-in centres, the NHS App and NHS 111 online or by phone 24/7 for urgent health advice.

Patients should attend outpatient and other hospital appointments unless contacted by the trust to reschedule, it added.

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