Duty to tell: ‘We should have been told about Norovirus outbreak’

A man who fell violently ill after contracting Norovirus at a UK seaside hotel says he should have been warned of an outbreak before his stay.

norovirus.elderly womanLeslie Yeaman, 70, took his wife Pauline, 71, to The Grand Hotel in Scarborough for a five- day break earlier this month on a National Holidays trip.

Mrs Yeaman suffers from a low immune system after suffering from cancer three times.

She uses a wheelchair and was also diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in July.

Mr Yeaman, who fell ill two days into his stay, says the virus could have had potentially fatal consequences for his wife, who also fell ill after they returned to their Kingswood home.

He said: “I lost my sister before Christmas and it was a really traumatic time. We cancelled Christmas and I told Pauline I would take her for a short break.”

The couple checked into the hotel on Monday, January 5, but by Wednesday, Mr Yeaman had become violently ill with sickness and diarrhoea.

He said: “I am a carer for my wife and I couldn’t do anything for her. The next day, we decided to cut our losses.”

He said he endured an agonising drive back to Hull, whereby he spent the next 34 hours in bed ill.

His wife then also became poorly.

Public Health England, which investigated cases of the infection at the hotel, has told the Mail the outbreak was investigated from December 23 until January 19, when it was declared over.

Mr Yeaman says National Holidays should have had a duty of care to inform him and his wife of the outbreak.

He said: “The chemotherapy has destroyed Pauline’s immune system. We never had the chance to cancel. They never said to us there was a virus in the hotel.

“Six other people went home when we did.”