Following the outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting (see attached press statement issued on 11th December) Director of Nursing and Operations at Ashford and St. Peter’s issued the following message to staff on Friday 14th December 2007:

I am pleased to be able to let you know that all the Wards at St. Peter’s have now reopened.  This is in no small way due to the vigilance every member of staff has shown in following the enhanced infection control measures and your intensive efforts to ensure that affected areas were thoroughly cleaned before they were re-opened.   We must keep up this intense effort because it is just as likely that we will see D&V return if we do not maintain our vigilance.   Please do not be afraid to challenge your colleagues or visitors if they fail to cleanse their hands or follow correct infection control procedures.   Staff should inform the infection control team if they are concerned that they have 2 or more patients with diarrhoea and or vomiting that are not due to a medical condition.

Our deep clean programme with the decant of wards continues and I am grateful for the co-operation of everyone in managing this programme.   You will have noticed that new posters have gone up around both hospitals and during the new year you can be sure that we will be implementing new initiatives to ensure that the message is pressed home to everyone about the importance keeping this issue high on everyone’s priorities.

Michaela Morris

Director of Nursing and Operations