CAMPBELTOWN Hospital has had to close a ward again after patients fell victim to sickness once more.
The hospital had to close both its wards in March for nearly 10 days following a suspected outbreak of the winter vomiting bug, only reopening them after full infection control measures and a deep clean of each ward.
Last week patients in the acute ward were stricken with another stomach upset and the staff sprung into action again.
Donnie Cameron, Clinical Services manager confirmed that the hospital had to close to new admissions last week.
‘The problem is that it normally takes a couple of weeks to be absolutely sure what it was; it’s got to go to the lab.’
Mr Cameron praised the prompt action of the hospital staff: ‘A number of people came down quite suddenly with diarrhoea and we shut the ward again and took advice from infection control.
‘Their prompt action and thoroughness brought it under control very quickly and we hope to be able to open the ward again in the next few days,’ said Mr Cameron on Tuesday.
When a ward is declared closed in this way anyone needing hospital treatment is sent to Oban; the transfer of cases where people would need to go to larger hospitals in Glasgow has continued as normal.
The wards are closed to new admissions only visitors are still allowed in but have to follow strict handwashing measures both on arrival and departure form the ward.
A spokesman for Argyll and Cute Community Health Partnership said that bugs of this nature more often were brought into the hospital by a patient or someone visiting a patient.
‘Our advice is that if you are feeling unwell the last thing you should be doing is coming in to see people who are debilitated in the first place.’
