HOSPITAL bosses said they have briefed staff about what they should do in the event of an outbreak of Ebola in East Lancashire.

The NHS has said dozens of hospitals may have to isolate and treat patients in the unlikely event of a serious outbreak in Britain, although cases would initially be dealt with at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

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Ian Stanley, medical director at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We have a contingency plan in place if there is an Ebola outbreak in the area.

“Our plan will follow the national guidelines that have come from the government and their world health organisation partners.

“Trust staff are being briefed on what they should do and are prepared to respond if necessary.”

He said the national guidance has had to be interpreted and applied at a local level for each department, and a steering group has been established to report to the trust board and executive.

The Lancashire Telegraph requested more details about the contingency plan on Tuesday, but the trust had still not provided any information by our deadline yesterday.

Russ McLean, chairman of the Pennine Lancashire Patient Voices Group, said: “I would have thought that if they had a plan then they would share it, so this begs the question why they haven’t done.

“People are really worried about Ebola so it seems right we should be getting some reassurance.”

The Royal Free Hospital has the UK’s only high-level isolation unit used to treat people with highly infectious diseases. It is where British nurse Will Pooley – who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone – recovered from the disease in August and September after receiving the experimental drug ZMapp.

After that, the infectious diseases units at the Royal Liverpool hospitals, Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield and Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne would receive cases.

NHS officials have stressed that they are not expecting a serious outbreak of the virus.