An appeal has been made to health chiefs in mid-Essex to reopen beds at Broomfield Hospital to help cope with the flu outbreak.

The plea has been made by Chelmsford Trades Union Council which led a campaign last year against plans by Mid Essex Hospitals Trust to close a total of three wards at the hospital.

Although ward B13 has been partially reopened and the trust has decided not to close B12, ward B10 is still shut. The trades council has called for B10 to be reopened "in view of the serious influenza epidemic that has engulfed the nation''.

Trades Council chairman, Andrew Coburn, said: "There can be no excuse for keeping wards closed, particularly during a period of crisis. We have an aging population facing a hard winter and an influenza epidemic.

''Now is the time for the trust to place humanity above accountancy and reopen the beds."

Staff at Broomfield Hospital have been stretched to the limit with a huge increase in the number of emergency admissions. Intensive care beds have been fully occupied, some medical patients are on surgical wards and many planned operations have had to be cancelled.

Over the past week 919 people attended the casualty unit at Broomfield and a total of 415 were admitted to the hospital.

A spokeswoman for Mid Essex Hospitals Trust said that the hospital was very busy, but was coping.

Arrangements had been put in place to increase bed capacity, including opening ward B11 on a seven-day rather than five-day basis. There are no plans at present to reopen ward B10 but the situation is being kept under review.

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