Norovirus: don’t bring the winter vomiting bug onto our wards

Visitors to Royal Sussex County Hospital are being urged not to attend the hospital if they have symptoms of diarrhoea or vomiting to help protect patients on our wards.

There are currently cases of the highly contagious Norovirus vomiting bug on several wards and staff at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust have put in place measures to control the spread of this infection. This includes isolating patients and ‘deep cleaning’ affected areas once patients’ symptoms have stopped.

Patients and visitors are asked to avoid coming into hospitals or GP surgeries if they have any symptoms of diarrhoea or vomiting.

Norovirus can spread to others very easily. The best thing to do is to stay at home until at least 48 hours after the symptoms have cleared to reduce the risk of passing it on.

Dr Rob Haigh, Medical Director at  Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, said:

“Norovirus is highly infectious and highly unpleasant, and when it gets into a hospital, it spreads very easily. We are urging anyone with any symptoms of vomiting or diarrhoea to stay away from hospitals and ask all visitors to follow good hand hygiene rules and to wash their hands regularly in soap and warm water.”

Dr David Supple, Brighton GP and Chair of NHS Brighton and Hove CCG, said:

“Lots can be done to ease the pressure on the hospital and the public has a part to play in helping by ensuring they access the right services at the right time, as many people are going to A&E with problems that could be treated more quickly elsewhere.”

People are also reminded to only ever visit A&E in an emergency and to make use of all available health services, including calling NHS 111, local pharmacies, GP surgeries and the urgent care centre at Brighton Station for minor injury treatment without an appointment.

The HelpMyNHS campaign is being launched next week, to further highlight how people can help their local NHS by ensuring they access the right services at the right time

For more information on Norovirus, phone NHS 111, visit www.nhs.uk/conditions/norovirus/ or call their GP surgery.