Visitors Banned At Bournemouth Hospital

The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals have a number of wards closed due to the sickness and diarrhoea virus Norovirus.

Nationally there has been an outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting in the community which has infected some of the hospital wards at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

There are currently four wards and a bay on Ward 23 that are now closed to new admissions at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital (Wards 2, 4, 5, 25).

In order to protect our patients and members of the community all wards and bays at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital are closed to visiting unless otherwise arranged by the nurse in charge.

Next of kin who do want to visit in exceptional circumstances should ring in advance to discuss with the clinical leader on the ward.

The Trust is working actively to reduce the spread of the virus so to avoid disruption to patient care.

Dr Mary Armitage, Medical Director for the Foundation Trust, said:

"While we regret the inconvenience and upset that restrictions on visiting can cause friends and relatives, this is essential to minimise the risk of infection spreading to patient in other parts of our hospital.

"The safety of our patients is paramount and the cooperation of members of the public in helping this is appreciated.

"We are following all national guidelines and staff are working extremely hard to ensure no further spread of the sickness and diarrhoea virus.

"We review the situation twice daily and we will re-open the closed wards as soon as it is safe to do so and when they have been thoroughly cleaned, as part of the ongoing deep cleaning programme."

Daily updates on ward closures and visitor arrangement can be found at www.rbch.nhs.uk