GWH has gone three weeks without a norovirus outbreak, new figures show.

Last week, no ward beds were shut due to the hospital “superbug” norovirus.

The three-week dry spell follows a more tumultuous period for the Great Western.

Between the second week of December and the first week of January, doctors were forced to isolate an average of 4.5 beds a day – after successive weeks during which norovirus was found on the ward.

The latest winter figures, published today by NHS England, show GWH to still be busy – although calmer than the frenetic first week of January, when almost all general and acute hospital beds were occupied by patients.

The NHS statistics show that last week:

  • 491 ambulances arrived at GWH’s emergency department.
  • On 17 occasions paramedics were forced to wait with their patients for between 30 minutes and an hour before handing them on to ED doctors. One patient had to wait more than an hour to be handed over.
  • On average, 96 per cent of general and acute hospital beds were occupied by patients – the third busiest week since monitoring began in November.
  • By Sunday evening, there were 54 patients at the Great Western who had spent more than 21 days as hospital inpatients.

Nationally, NHS trusts last week saw the highest number of “A&E diverts” since winter monitoring began.

Emergency department doctors were forced to send patients elsewhere on 43 occasions because they were too busy. Great Western Hospital was not among the trusts forced to send emergency patients elsewhere.

NHS England blamed the increased demand on flu and norovirus outbreaks.

A spokeswoman said: "Raised levels of flu and norovirus cases continued to put pressure on busy hospitals and other frontline services last week.

"And while the NHS is generally coping with ongoing winter demands, the public can continue to play their part by using NHS 111 and pharmacists for advice."

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