A WINTER diarrhoea and vomiting bug did not take hold in Malvern Community Hospital because of excellent standards of hygiene, say health chiefs.

Health bosses said there was only one case of norovirus across the county’s five community hospitals because of high standards.

Norovirus continues to cause problems at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester and the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, leading to ward closures at both hospitals which are managed by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Visiting restrictions were in place at the Royal last Wednesday in a bid to stop the highly infectious virus spreading which can cause ward closures, leading to extra pressure on beds.

Sandra Brennan, director of quality at the Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, discussed the high standards of infection control across the county’s community hospitals during a meeting at Stourport Sports Club where she said norovirus had been less of a problem.

She said: “People will be aware there has been norovirus circulating in the community, particularly over Christmas, that did cause some ward closures.

“We did have one incident of norovirus in one of our community hospitals and managed to contain it to one patient.

“That says something about the high standard of hygiene and cleanliness within our community hospitals.”

So far this financial year (2011/12) there have only been five cases of the superbug C.difficile in the trust, well within the threshold of 28 cases for the year.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester and the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, has recently introduced dual testing for C.difficle which is likely to mean more cases are identified in the lab.

A review of the cleanliness of commodes in community hospitals has been completed and shows improvement, Mrs Brennan said.

Audits of urinary catheters and podiatry are scheduled to run from this month until April to reduce infection levels still further.