Northern Ireland

Vomiting bug and staff shortages forces Altnagelvin hospital to close 25 beds

The Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin.
The Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin. The Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin.

About 25 beds have been closed at Altnagelvin Area Hospital in Derry due to a vomiting and diarrhoea bug and staffing shortages.

All "non-urgent routine procedures will be cancelled in the coming days", the Western Health Trust said.

Ward 5 (Elective Orthopaedics) is completely closed due to the increased instances of vomiting and diarrhoea and other beds throughout the hospital have been closed as a result of available nurse staffing levels and delays in patient discharges.

Dr Dermot Hughes, the trust's medical director, said that friends and family should avoid visiting the hospital if they are feeling unwell, "particularly if they have diarrhoea and/or vomiting".

Those who are visiting are asked to wash their hands before and after visiting and only one patient whilst at the hospital. They should also refrain from sitting on hospital beds.

He told BBC Radio Foyle it was well-known that the hospital had problems recruiting staff.

"We have gone over to the Philippines, to Europe and to recruit outside of Northern Ireland. This has been partly successful," he explained.

"It's not simply that we have a shortage of nurses, we simply do not have enough staff applying for posts."

"There's probably a mismatch from demand and supply." 

"I think the universities could supply more and also we have our own problems in that we are further from the main centre of population which is the main Belfast area."