WORCESTERSHIRE Royal Hospital is on red alert again following a diarrhoea and vomiting outbreak in the wards.

Patients are being diverted out of the county because of outbreaks at both Worcester's new hospital and Redditch's Alexandra Hospital over the weekend.

A total of 25 acute beds were closed yesterday. The problem was exacerbated by a "significant" number of staff also being struck down by the bug.

It follows similar red alerts earlier in the month, when GPs in Worcestershire were urged by South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust to "seek alternative ways of managing patients in the community".

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman Richard Haynes said there were empty beds that could not be used for newly-admitted patients.

"We've got a significant number of staff with the bug as well," he said. "The effect is to put more pressure on the system. We're opening up more beds and bringing in all available staff to manage this."

He said patients were being diverted to Gloucester, Hereford and Warwick hospitals to ease the pressure.

"We are still taking the vast majority of emergency admissions," he said, adding the problem could last a few more days.

The secretary of the Worcestershire Local Medical Committee, Dr Simon Parkinson, said he was concerned that there were problems when admissions were at an average level.

He put this down to the fact that there were at least 100 too few beds at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

"We always said it was too small," he said. "We take no pleasure from saying that, but we are stuck with it."

He said the Trust's financial problems could only make the situation worse.

Dr Parkinson said he and other GPs ignored the advice from the PCTs urging them to send patients elsewhere.

"As far as I'm concerned, you can't close a hospital. We've repeatedly said it's unacceptable and unsafe."