CMO labels N5H1 bird flu as 'Public Enemy No1'
The Chief Medical Officer- Sir Liam Donaldson, has called on NHS managers to 'react as well' to a flu pandemic as they did to the London bombings. Professor Sir Liam Donaldson was speaking last week as he unveiled a revised contingency plan to deal with a possible transmission of avian flu to humans.
'The NHS has got to take the pandemic seriously,' he said. 'We regard pandemic flu as public health enemy number one and we are on the march against it. The NHS needs to react as well to this pandemic as it did to the July bombings.'
He added: 'I hope the urgency of the pandemic will make even the most uninterested managers make the move to develop a plan. With good planning and preparation we can reduce the impact of pandemic flu on the health of our population.'
Primary care trusts are being warned that they should expect to see at least 1,000 new flu patients a week during any pandemic and this figure could rise to over 5,000 at the virus's peak.
Hospital admissions for acute respiratory and related conditions could increase by at least 50 per cent, with around 20,000 new patients a week at the height of the pandemic.
PCTs have been asked to draw up plans detailing how they would respond to a pandemic, which would be checked by the Department of Health to ensure they were appropriate.
Information packs have been sent out to GPs asking them to be vigilant in recording all cases of flu or flu-like symptoms and to be prepared for mass vaccinations once they become available.
Sir Liam warned that the vaccine might not be available in time for the pandemic reaching the UK, but said the government was stockpiling 15 million anti-viral treatment courses to treat flu victims in the event of an outbreak.
The DoH has invited vaccine manufacturers to tender for 'sleeping contracts', which would mean they had to build up capacity to meet demand once the flu strain is identified.
Health Direct questions what extra money is being allocated by the Labour govt to combat the flu epidemic when it does break- is this yet another case of spin before truth?
http://www.hsj.co.uk/nav?page=hsj.news.story&resource=3506985
'The NHS has got to take the pandemic seriously,' he said. 'We regard pandemic flu as public health enemy number one and we are on the march against it. The NHS needs to react as well to this pandemic as it did to the July bombings.'
He added: 'I hope the urgency of the pandemic will make even the most uninterested managers make the move to develop a plan. With good planning and preparation we can reduce the impact of pandemic flu on the health of our population.'
Primary care trusts are being warned that they should expect to see at least 1,000 new flu patients a week during any pandemic and this figure could rise to over 5,000 at the virus's peak.
Hospital admissions for acute respiratory and related conditions could increase by at least 50 per cent, with around 20,000 new patients a week at the height of the pandemic.
PCTs have been asked to draw up plans detailing how they would respond to a pandemic, which would be checked by the Department of Health to ensure they were appropriate.
Information packs have been sent out to GPs asking them to be vigilant in recording all cases of flu or flu-like symptoms and to be prepared for mass vaccinations once they become available.
Sir Liam warned that the vaccine might not be available in time for the pandemic reaching the UK, but said the government was stockpiling 15 million anti-viral treatment courses to treat flu victims in the event of an outbreak.
The DoH has invited vaccine manufacturers to tender for 'sleeping contracts', which would mean they had to build up capacity to meet demand once the flu strain is identified.
Health Direct questions what extra money is being allocated by the Labour govt to combat the flu epidemic when it does break- is this yet another case of spin before truth?
http://www.hsj.co.uk/nav?page=hsj.news.story&resource=3506985
posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic at
9:33 AM
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