Major hospital serving Surrey, Horsham and Crawley shuts wards after bug outbreak

East Surrey Hospital in Redhill says it has closed the wards to minimise the risk of further infection following an outbreak of Norovirus. It has also organised additional cleaning on affected wards and is urging visitors with symptoms to stay away.

Norovirus – also known as the winter vomiting bug – can be a higher risk to patients, visitors and staff at this time of year.

The hospital is urging visitors not to go to the hospital if they are experiencing diarrhoea or vomiting to help curb the spread of the bug.

Dr Ed Cetti, chief medical officer at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “Norovirus is one of the most common gastric infections, particularly during the wintertime and will affect people across the country.

“We are currently caring for several patients with Norovirus and three of our wards remain closed. To minimise the risk of any further infection we are taking additional enhanced measures including additional cleaning on the wards affected.

“The care of our patients is our priority, and we always do all we can to prevent the spread of any infection to help our patients recover.

"We ask all visitors to the hospital to help us by not visiting if they have had diarrhoea or vomiting symptoms in the last 48 hours and to remember to wash their hands before and after visiting.”

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The main symptoms are nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting. People may also have aches, a high temperature and headache, .

Sufferers usually start to feel better within three days.