A critical incident was called in the emergency department at Addenbrooke’s Hospital after a norovirus outbreak.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), which runs the hospital, said there was overcrowding in the department due to the unexpected outbreak.

The Trust said the situation had now “significantly improved” after the number of cases had subsided.

Roland Sinker, chief executive at CUH, said the outbreak of norovirus at the hospital reflected the “unseasonably high peak in cases of norovirus in the community”.

The Trust confirmed at a Board of Directors meeting this week (July 10) that it had been forced to close over 100 hospital beds across multiple wards to new admissions due to norovirus.

Amanda Cox told the board that the number of cases had now subsided.

She said: “We went into a critical incident in the emergency department due to overcrowding, due to an unexpected and unseasonable norovirus outbreak.

“It affected four of our wards and resulted in over 100 hospital beds having to be closed to admissions with daily infection management meetings.

“I am very pleased to report that it has very much subsided. There are still a number of norovirus cases in one ward, but it has very significantly improved and hopefully we will see an ongoing more stable position over the coming weeks.”