AROUND 60 operations due at Hereford County Hospital have had to be put off until after Easter amid fears of another surge in emergency patients over the Bank Holiday.

Wye Valley NHS Trust confirmed that the operations were postponed because of ongoing pressure over patient numbers and the “knock on” from closure of wards to repeated norovirus outbreaks.

All patients who have had their operations put off were due to be contacted by the Trust  today (Friday).

An unspecified date beyond the Easter bank holiday is the earliest non-urgent operations – including the likes of hip and knee replacements – are expected to resume.

All told, around 60 such operations have so far been postponed.

Day case and short stay surgery, however, is not affected and there is no need for patients scheduled for this surgery to contact the Trust.

Richard Beeken, chief executive at Wye Valley NHS Trust, said the postponement decision was not taken lightly.

“We realise that families have to make arrangements when a relative goes into hospital for an operation, and that a postponement can be a great disappointment and inconvenience. We are sincerely sorry for this, but hope people will understand the reason why,” he said.

Demand on emergency services at the hospital has barely eased since the first “internal incident” over patient numbers was called in January.

Redbrook ward remains shut because of norovirus, but the hospital is still managing the “knock on” effect of other ward closures with a second internal incident called earlier this month.

Patient numbers are expected to surge again over Easter with more warnings going out over the need for alternatives to A&E.

HEREFORD COUNTY HOSPITAL – ANOTHER TOUGH MONTH

This week, the hospital lost Redbrook ward to norovirus – just 24 hours after calling itself clear of the bug.

Redbrook was closed on Tuesday when cases of diarrhoea amongst patients were reported.

On Monday, the hospital was working with a full set of wards for the first time in weeks.

Frome ward had been  re-opened after an intensive deep clean having been, then, the last still shut to norovirus.

Lugg ward re-opened last Thursday after being shut for several days.

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.

The most recent internal incident - and the second in just over a month – was called by the Trust on March 9.

 It was over by March 11 as patient numbers began to stabilise after a surge lasting several days complicated by the wards shut and beds lost to norovirus.

Closures of Lugg ward – for a second time – and Frome ward came just 24 hours after the trust had made the internal incident call.

By then, the Trust had confirmed admission numbers as up by 16 per cent on the same time last year.

Patients with norovirus symptoms were also presenting at under pressure A&E and subsequently having to be admitted.

A number of staff were also off because of the bug.

The Hereford Times has reported how back office staff at the hospital were working on wards to help with non-clinical tasks.