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Source: http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk...hat_health_centres_wont_cope_with_flu_bug.php
Fears that health centres won't cope with flu bug
By Patrick Knox
A DEADLY flu-bug epidemic could overwhelm Basingstoke and Deane's health centres and surgeries, it has emerged.
The Government now ranks pandemic flu strains like bird flu as the biggest threat to the UK and has given the Hampshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) a December deadline to complete an emergency plan.
However, in a newly-published set of ratings, the Department of Health has awarded the PCT with a traffic-light score of "red" for its ability to cope with the surging demand from sick patients and recover from a devastating outbreak.
This is the lowest ranking, which indicates more work needs to be done to deal with the worst-case scenario plan, where half the population could be infected and one in 100 people could die in the first wave alone.
Mark Wagstaff, PCT project manager for pandemic planning, said that since receiving the red score, an action plan has been drawn up that includes deciding who will be prioritised for treatment.
He said: "It's about coping with a sudden increase in those needing hospitalisation and keeping services going.
"So it is important we prioritise our services and lay down criteria for those who need to be treated first at the hospital - and that we are open about what those criteria are."
A special "flu line" operated by NHS Direct will help manage diagnosis during a mass outbreak, taking some of the strain off of GP services, he said.
If a patient calling the line has the symptoms, a family member or "flu friend" will be given a unique number to be swapped for anti-viral drugs at a designated collection point, such as a local chemist.
Doctors' surgeries and health centres in Basingstoke and Deane are being asked to partner up if staff become ill.
Basingstoke hospital would open isolation wards, but only treat serious cases according to criteria decided beforehand.
This could mean people could be turned away if they are not deemed eligible for immediate treatment.
In terms of the recovery stage, Mr Wagstaff said improvements had been made in terms of assessing staff levels and roles, giving vaccines, learning lessons and preparing for a second wave.
The auditors, however, gave the PCT's emergency plan a traffic-light score of "green", which means "robust and resilient", in terms of co-ordination, and "amber", which means ongoing work nearly complete, for access to vaccines, medicines and helping people treat themselves.
The PCT would lead the NHS epidemic response in Hampshire at an emergency control centre from Omega House in Eastleigh.
A test run of the pandemic flu plan will be carried out in October, involving Hampshire Local Resilience Forum (LRF), comprising representatives from the emergency services, local authorities and relevant agencies.
The Department of Health will then audit the plan ahead of the December deadline.
The LRF rate a pandemic flu epidemic as "very high", while the Government rates a global flu virus as more deadly than a terrorism attack, and predicts a UK death rate as high as 750,000.
Fears that health centres won't cope with flu bug
By Patrick Knox
A DEADLY flu-bug epidemic could overwhelm Basingstoke and Deane's health centres and surgeries, it has emerged.
The Government now ranks pandemic flu strains like bird flu as the biggest threat to the UK and has given the Hampshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) a December deadline to complete an emergency plan.
However, in a newly-published set of ratings, the Department of Health has awarded the PCT with a traffic-light score of "red" for its ability to cope with the surging demand from sick patients and recover from a devastating outbreak.
This is the lowest ranking, which indicates more work needs to be done to deal with the worst-case scenario plan, where half the population could be infected and one in 100 people could die in the first wave alone.
Mark Wagstaff, PCT project manager for pandemic planning, said that since receiving the red score, an action plan has been drawn up that includes deciding who will be prioritised for treatment.
He said: "It's about coping with a sudden increase in those needing hospitalisation and keeping services going.
"So it is important we prioritise our services and lay down criteria for those who need to be treated first at the hospital - and that we are open about what those criteria are."
A special "flu line" operated by NHS Direct will help manage diagnosis during a mass outbreak, taking some of the strain off of GP services, he said.
If a patient calling the line has the symptoms, a family member or "flu friend" will be given a unique number to be swapped for anti-viral drugs at a designated collection point, such as a local chemist.
Doctors' surgeries and health centres in Basingstoke and Deane are being asked to partner up if staff become ill.
Basingstoke hospital would open isolation wards, but only treat serious cases according to criteria decided beforehand.
This could mean people could be turned away if they are not deemed eligible for immediate treatment.
In terms of the recovery stage, Mr Wagstaff said improvements had been made in terms of assessing staff levels and roles, giving vaccines, learning lessons and preparing for a second wave.
The auditors, however, gave the PCT's emergency plan a traffic-light score of "green", which means "robust and resilient", in terms of co-ordination, and "amber", which means ongoing work nearly complete, for access to vaccines, medicines and helping people treat themselves.
The PCT would lead the NHS epidemic response in Hampshire at an emergency control centre from Omega House in Eastleigh.
A test run of the pandemic flu plan will be carried out in October, involving Hampshire Local Resilience Forum (LRF), comprising representatives from the emergency services, local authorities and relevant agencies.
The Department of Health will then audit the plan ahead of the December deadline.
The LRF rate a pandemic flu epidemic as "very high", while the Government rates a global flu virus as more deadly than a terrorism attack, and predicts a UK death rate as high as 750,000.