Admissions Put On Hold Due To Illness Problems

Wards have been closed and new admissions put on hold at Monklands Hospital in North Lanarkshire, after it was confirmed that the site is working to eradicate a suspected norovirus outbreak.

It is believed that up to seven wards at the site have been affected by the illness problems, with NHS Lanarkshire stating that the situation is being carefully monitored.

Visitors are still being allowed to enter the hospital but have been asked to use hand sanitisers and follow best practice in terms of personal hygiene if they do.

Irwin Mitchell acts for victims and the families of those who have suffered long-term health problems after being hit by serious illnesses such as norovirus both in the UK and abroad.

Suki Chhokar, a Partner who specialises in such illness cases, said it was vital that the Trust continues to work to prevent the spread of the outbreak and pinpoint the potential source of the problem.

He said: “Through our work we have seen just how serious cases of norovirus can be. The illness is very contagious and can often leave people with long-term problems that they never fully recover from.

“The serious of the problem and the issues it can cause in environments including hospitals and schools are well documented, and will be part of the reason why the Health Protection Agency recently introduced new guidelines on how to improve the management of outbreaks.

“It is vital that the hospital puts every effort into ensuring that the outbreak is contained in the correct manner, while a full investigation should be launched into how this happened once the threat of the outbreak is minimised.

“This should provide vital in ensuring that lessons are learned from this incident so that both NHS Lanarkshire and other Trusts can prevent the same terrible problems from happening again.”