‘Unseasonable’ outbreak of norovirus at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge led to ‘critical incident’ and forced closure of 100 beds

A critical incident was called in the emergency department at Addenbrooke’s Hospital after a surprising norovirus outbreak that led to 100 beds being closed.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), which runs the hospital, said the situation had now “significantly improved” after the number of cases had subsided, although there are still cases in one ward.

Norovirus is more typically associated with the colder months and is also known as the ‘winter vomiting bug’. The stomach bug causes vomiting and diarrhoea.

As a result of the unexpected outbreak, there was overcrowding in the emergency department.

Roland Sinker, chief executive at CUH, said tit followed “unseasonably high peak in cases of norovirus in the community”.

The trust confirmed at a board meeting on Wednesday (10 July) that it had been forced to close more than 100 hospital beds across multiple wards to new admissions due to norovirus.

Consultant Dr Amanda Cox told the board: “We went into a critical incident in the emergency department due to overcrowding, due to an unexpected and unseasonable norovirus outbreak.

“It affected four of our wards and resulted in over 100 hospital beds having to be closed to admissions with daily infection management meetings.

“I am very pleased to report that it has very much subsided. There are still a number of norovirus cases in one ward, but it has very significantly improved and hopefully we will see an ongoing more stable position over the coming weeks.”