A regional health chief is “absolutely confident” that closing Weston General Hospital was the right move and said the coronavirus outbreak is under control.
Julia Ross, chief executive of the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire clinical commissioning group, said the hospital was shut after five patients tested positive for Covid-19 in a non-Covid ward.
Staff and patients have undergone numerous tests but the source of the outbreak is still being investigated.
Mrs Ross did not confirm when the hospital would reopen but bosses said it was expected to be shut to new patients for at least a week while a deep clean takes place and wards are reconfigured.
She told the CCG’s governing body meeting on June 2: “We closed Weston General Hospital from the morning of May 25.
“I’m absolutely convinced it was the right thing to do. It was initiated by five patients who were identified as being Covid-positive but were in a non-Covid ward.
“Because of the risk of further transmission we took the difficult decision to close.
“The response of the whole system has been strong. The ambulance trust set up a receiving centre overnight so no one would be unable to get care. We redirected people as appropriate to other providers.
“Since then there have been no new cases. I think the outbreak is under control.
“A small number of staff were Covid-positive, around seven per cent.
“The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston Trust has been heavily supported by Public Health England and North Somerset Council.
“People are working hard to identify the source of the outbreak, however it’s not currently known.”
Ms Ross said patients will go through a fourth round of testing tomorrow and staff will be testing for a second time.
She said the CCG had no concerns about the hospital’s record on infection control but it would benefit from “additional rigour” after its merger with the University Hospital Bristol earlier this year.
