Precautionary ward closure - update
Categories: 2008 Media Releases
11 December 2008
Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust re-opened the John van Geest ward at Stamford Hospital this morning (11 December) and has declared a ‘non-outbreak’ of diarrhoea and vomiting (D&V).
• The John van Geest ward at Stamford Hospital re-opened to new admissions this morning (11 December). No new cases have been reported since the ward’s closure on Tuesday, 9 December, and none of the patients previously affected, have had symptoms since then. The ward therefore re-opened this morning and the Trust has declared a ‘non-outbreak’.
Chris Wilkinson, Director of Nursing, said: “In-line with the Trust’s infection prevention and control policy, we took the decision to close the John van Geest ward at Stamford Hospital to new admissions on Tuesday as a precautionary measure. As patients have experienced no further symptoms since Tuesday, the Trust has taken the decision to
re-open the ward and has declared a ‘non-outbreak’. Our infection control team will continue to strictly monitor patients.
“The infection, which is commonly bought into hospital from the community, can spread rapidly and we ask people who have had diarrhoea and vomiting in the past 72 hours, not to visit the hospital and not to bring young children to visit patients who have had diarrhoea and vomiting.”
The Trust would like to remind visitors that they can also help to tackle infections in the following ways:
• Not visiting the hospital if they have had diarrhoea and/or vomiting (D&V) or a cold in the past 72 hours
• Being familiar with visiting guidelines, especially a maximum of two visitors for each patient and ward visiting times (for the majority of ward areas these are 2-4pm and 6-8pm)
• Not bringing young children to visit patients who have had D&V
• Always performing good hand washing on entering and exiting ward areas
• Not using patient toilets
• Not sitting on patient beds
• Not sharing food with patients
Ends
Note to editors:
The Trust has rigid infection prevention and control measures in place as a matter of course and is continually looking to make further improvements:
• It has a successful isolation ward in place at the Edith Cavell Hospital and has now introduced this scheme at the District Hospital as well. This will allow it to move patients, where clinically appropriate, with an infection into the same ward to prevent further spread.
• It is always trying to improve antibiotic prescribing to help fight C diff (antibiotics sometimes destroy the good bacteria in a patient’s gut which allows the C diff organism to spread)
• It continually promotes good hand hygiene to patients, staff and visitors
• It has strict cleaning codes in place in normal service and during and after any outbreak
