Building Closed For Several Days Following Problems

Illness lawyers at Irwin Mitchell have called for answers following a suspected norovirus outbreak which reportedly affected more than 200 pupils and 15 members of staff at the North Bridge House Preparatory School in London.

The Primrose Hill school’s Gloucester Avenue building was closed for several days following the illness problems, with inspectors confirming the presence of the infection and a deep clean operation launched to halt its spread.

According to local journal Ham & High, the headteacher confirmed in a letter that the school is following the advice of the European Safety Bureau in relation to tackling the problems.

Irwin Mitchell’s specialist team of illness lawyers have vast experience acting for victims of illness outbreaks in the UK and abroad, including hundreds of cases involving norovirus. The legal experts notably act for numerous victims of the major Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks which affected people in Stoke-on-Trent and Edinburgh earlier this year.

Suki Chhokar, a Partner and expert in illness claims at Irwin Mitchell, said: “While little is so far known about this outbreak, the reports of it are clearly a concern and it is welcome to see that action is now being taken to tackle the problems.

“The priority at this stage is undoubtedly to ensure that the school premises are once again safe for staff and pupils to use, but the next issue to consider will be how these problems emerged and what can be done to prevent such an outbreak in the future.

“From our work we have seen how outbreaks of this kind, can have a huge impact on victims of all ages and in some cases leave them with long-term health problems. Staff and the parents of pupils will undoubtedly be very concerned and will want reassurances that every effort is being made to learn lessons from the incident.”