Virus-hit Royal Cornwall Hospital steps down from major incident status

Hospital visits are still being restricted

The Royal Cornwall Hospital (RCH) is no longer in major incident status, its managing trust says.

Bosses confirmed on Wednesday that the hospital in Truro had been "in crisis" following an outbreak of the norovirus vomiting bug.

Up to 20 operations a day were being cancelled. They are to be rescheduled.

The minor injury unit (MIU) at Falmouth Community Hospital will be closed from Friday until Monday to allow staff to help out at the RCH.

The nearest MIUs are at Camborne Redruth Community Hospital and Helston Community Hospital.

Peninsular Community Health said the closure was being taken "in the best overall interests of patient care".

The RCH trust said some visiting restrictions were in place and people should check before setting out.

Managers said problems had been caused by a combination of a high number of patients being admitted, the inability to discharge some patients quickly enough, and beds being temporarily closed because of the virus outbreak.

Managers said they hoped cancelled operations would be rescheduled "as soon as possible".