COLCHESTER hospital bosses were forced to close its urgent treatment department in response to an emergency “infection control issue”.

Patients arriving at the site in Turner Road were redirected to hospitals in Clacton and Ipswich with security workers guarding its doors.

The hospital department was closed from mid-afternoon yesterday until 7am today as a deep clean of the facility was carried out.

An East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust spokeswoman said the department was shut for any new patients during this period.

Gazette: Incident - Colchester Hospital's urgent treatment centre was shut yesterdayIncident - Colchester Hospital's urgent treatment centre was shut yesterday (Image: Newsquest)

She said: “We had to temporarily close one clinical area at Colchester Hospital, the urgent treatment centre, to new patients.

“This was because of an infection control issue.

“We carried out a deep clean which we do every day in the hospital.

“We closed the centre so we could deal with the issue and care for the patients in there.”

Eyewitness Vincent Donaldson, 65, told the Gazette the “very worrying” scenes saw people on medical trollies scattered across the site.

Gazette: Eyewitness - Vincent Donaldson said the incident was concerningEyewitness - Vincent Donaldson said the incident was concerning (Image: Vincent Donaldson)

“Nobody was allowed in, everybody was diverted to Ipswich or Clacton or told to make an appointment with their GP,” said Mr Donaldson.

The Colchester resident, whose mum had been admitted to the hospital just hours before amid a health scare, added: “There was a continued stream of cars, people getting out of them and then driving off.

“My wife said it was like wrap ‘em, pack ‘em and stack ‘em in the hall. There were people on trollies everywhere.

“It was fairly scary, especially when your mum has a dodgy ticker. She was a little bit frightened about what was going on.”

Gazette: Treatment - Colchester HospitalTreatment - Colchester Hospital (Image: Archant)

One patient said he was turned away from the hospital despite being advised to go there by emergency line 111.

Dr Meera Chand, director of clinical and emerging infection for the UK Health Security Agency, said: “Individuals who have travelled recently and report illness are routinely assessed by NHS clinicians for a variety of infectious diseases.”

The doctor confirmed UKHSA staff attended the site.