Somerset NHS hospital shuts doors to new patients

Weston General Hospital has ‘temporarily stopped accepting new patients’, including at its A&E department, due to a high number of patients with coronavirus.

The hospital, part of Somerset NHS Foundation trust, described the move as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of patients and staff. Doctors at the hospital said that the decision had been taken with support of the wider NHS in the region and that alternative provision for patients who would normally have attended Weston General would be made.

The decision follows reports that the number of patients at the hospital who have tested positive for the virus has doubled since last week. According to a message reportedly sent out to NHS employees, testing of staff at the hospital has revealed a 40 per cent coronavirus-positive rate. The message, shared by an unnamed NHS worker, also reveals the number of coronavirus patients at the hospital has risen by nearly 100 per cent since the beginning of last week.

Dr William Oldfield, the medical director at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, said: "As with any hospital, the number of patients with Covid-19 will frequently change as people are admitted and discharged.

"We currently have a high number of patients with Covid-19 in Weston General Hospital. Whilst the vast majority will have come into the hospital with Covid-19, as an extra precaution we have taken the proactive step to temporarily stop accepting new patients to maintain patient and staff safety."