STRICT hygiene procedures have been introduced at Maidstone Hospital after an outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting on the wards.

The first winter outbreak on several wards at the hospital in Hermitage Lane, Maidstone, happened last week and has led managers to bring in a series of hygiene rules to ensure the bug does not spread.

Visitors are now being asked to wash their hands with the alcohol gel dispensers outside the wards both when they arrive and when they leave.

They are also being asked not to sit on the patients' beds, as this can spread germs. Anyone feeling unwell but who is planning to visit a friend of relative is also asked to stay away.

Brenda Greatrex, lead infection control nurse at the hospital, said: "We have had our first cases of patients with diarrhoea and vomiting in the hospital and are following some strict hygiene procedures to stop this from spreading."

Staff have promised not to stop visitors from seeing patients on affected wards, but if they have visited anyone on a ward, they are advised not to visit another ward, to prevent the spread of the illness

Management at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said they might stop admitting new patients to affected wards for a short period, to allow patients to recover and for the ward to be specially cleaned.