"Internal incident" at Hereford County Hospital is over

Wye Valley NHS Trust downgraded the hospital’s status - called for the second time in just over a month - this morning(Tues) as patient numbers began to stabilise after a surge lasting several days.

That surge was complicated by norovirus outbreak that saw wards shut and beds lost.

The closures of Lugg ward – for a second time – and Frome ward yesterday (Tuesday) came just 24 hours after the trust had made the internal incident call.

By then, patients with norovirus symptoms were presenting at under pressure A&E and subsequently having to be admitted.

On Monday, the trust confirmed admission numbers were up by 16 per cent on this time last year.

Amongst those numbers are said to be a significant percentage of “seriously ill” patients unsuitable for quick discharge.

Many others were older with “complex needs”.

The internal incident  was prompted by particular pressure on A&E over the weekend with staff already struggling to meet assessment and treatment targets

Now, norovirus has meant visiting restrictions have been put in place for Lugg Ward and Frome Ward.

The Hereford Times has reported how patient pressures saw back office staff at the hospital working on wards to help with non-clinical tasks like fetching, carrying and cleaning.

In recent weeks, the trust has lost around half of its beds and a number of its staff to norovirus.

The bug – which saw wards shut to admissions and visitors as patients showed symptoms – struck as the trust was struggling with another big rise in A&E attendances and emergency admissions that peaked at 20 per cent more than usual for the time of year.

Over February 8 to 11, norovirus struck to shut Lugg Ward and Arrow Ward and closed Ross Community Hospital to admissions and transfers.

With up to four wards closed to admission at the outbreak’s height, patient flow through the hospital slowed down leading to poor performance and patient experience.