VISITORS have been banned from Worcestershire Royal Hospital following the norovirus outbreak.

The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital in Newtown Road, Worcester, put out a statement banning visitors late yesterday morning following the outbreak which causes violent sickness and diarrhoea.

Barrier nursing is now in place at all four affected medical wards at Worcestershire Royal Hospital and at a medical ward at Kidderminster Hospital where a case of the virus has also been confirmed.

Barrier nursing is when medical staff use masks, gloves and aprons to stop the spread of infection within and between wards. The protective items have to be disposed of every time they come in contact with an infected patient.

Special ward areas have also been set up to isolate patients with the bug from other patients.

Fewer than 10 patients have had non-emergency operations cancelled at Worcestershire Royal since the out-break started at the end of last week.

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said the trust had “learned lessons” from the last norovirus outbreak in September.

She said: “Norovirus is a virus which is easily transmitted from one person to another. It is passed on by contact with an infected person, by consuming contaminated food or water or by contact with contaminated surfaces or objects.

“It is present in the community and a few cases have now been identified on wards at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

“Because of its highly contagious nature and in order to protect vulnerable patients and avoid the spread of the infection, we have decided to implement a ban on visiting to all wards at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.”

The spokesman said the trust acknowledged that this may cause some difficulty but that the support of families and visitors is needed to contain the outbreak.

She also said that none of the hospitals were closed and that those not attending outpatient appointments needed to notify the hospital as soon as possible.

Patients who have outpatient appointments should attend as long as they are well or have been free of any symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting for more than 48 hours. This latest norovirus outbreak is the third this year – the first was in January and the second led to Alexandra Hospital in Redditch being closed to visitors.