Region's NHS bosses issue flu warnings as cases soar

NHS chiefs are warning people about the risk of flu following a spike in hospital admissions.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway says it's dealing with higher numbers of flu-related hospital admissions than expected for this time of year and has placed restrictions on visitor numbers.

Kenneth Donaldson, Director of Medical, NHS Dumfries and Galloway: “Most years we will see a bit of a spike in flu this year has been a little unusual as flu as come a little earlier and coincided with Christmas and people getting together.

"What we are advising people is that at the moment we have restricted visiting in certain areas to essential visiting only. We are trying to encourage people, particularly if you are not feeling well to not come into hospital to visit loved ones.

“Normally visiting would be two people per person but we are saying contact the ward before you come and if it is not viewed to be essential then we would ask not to come at this moment.

“Over the last weekend A&E and our medical admissions were busy and we did see an increase in flu admissions, particularly amongst the elderly. Thankfully that has settled down but we are going back into a public holiday and a long weekend to come."

North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust say there are currently almost 100 people in its hospitals with flu.

Clive Graham, Director of Infection, Prevention & Control, North Cumbria Integrated Care, said: “We are seeing a lot of flu cases at the moment. Most of them are coming in from the community so it really is a busy time of year.

“We have decided as a precautionary measure to put some visitor restrictions in place. This is to minimise the risk of spreading the flu throughout the hospital and to protect visitors who could potentially pick up the flu when visiting their loved ones."

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