When Lincoln County Hospital was hit with one of its worst outbreaks of norovirus at the end of last year, cleaning staff were roped in from all corners of the county’s hospitals to carry out the deep clean operation and rid the wards of the virus.

Twelve wards had to be closed at the peak of the norovirus epidemic and a major cleaning operation was undertaken throughout the five week period.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust paid out £140,000 on drafting in contract staff and paying regular staff overtime – and bosses say they do not yet know how much income was lost on top of that as a result of the outbreak.

Staff who pulled out all the stops to manage the “chaotic” situation were praised this week for their hard work in controlling the outbreak.

Pam Mason is a housekeeper whose day job is cleaning the offices and educational areas of the hospital.

But during the epidemic of the highly contagious winter vomiting bug, which struck on December 9, Pam was called upon to help carry out the deep clean on the wards.

She said: “It was a case of all hands on deck. It was hectic. It was chaos.