Hospitals seek limits on visiting over vomiting bug

MEDICS at Sheffield’s hospitals have appealed to the family and friends of patients to stay away from the wards as staff battle to control outbreaks of the winter vomiting bug Norovirus.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs both the Royal Hallamshire and Northern General Hospitals, said yesterday the measures were vital to stop the condition spreading.

Staff said anyone who had suffered any symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting or “flu like” symptoms in the previous 72 hours should definitely not visit and others should limit visits.

The trust’s deputy chief nurse, Richard Parker, said: “It is very important that the public join our staff in taking all precautions to stop the spread of the winter sickness bug in particular. We are therefore asking people to help us keep the bug at bay by not visiting at all. If they do need to visit they should limit it to a maximum of two visitors per patient.”