Swine flu website crashes on launch day
The National Pandemic Flu Service website crashed on the day it was launched after the site recorded more than 9.3m hits per hour. The Department of Health said demand was “unprecedented” with 2,600 hits a second and that it believed many people were visiting the site out of curiosity. Chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson […]
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Flu Pandemic Service launches
The National Pandemic Flu Service has been launched in England offering the public the chance to check their symptoms online or over the telephone and get access to anti-viral medicines.
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NHS flu line to go live next week
The interim National Pandemic Flu Service is to go live in England from the end of next week, the Department of Health has announced. The service, renamed from the originally planned Flu Line, will consist of a dedicated website and call centres. Patients will be able to contact the service if they suspect they have […]
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Swine flu QoF negotiations ongoing
Agreement to suspend the Quality and Outcomes Framework because of the impact of swine flu cases looks likely to be left to individual primary care organisations (PCOs). The General Practitioner Committee has told GPs that it is urgently exploring the possibility of individual PCOs suspending elements of the GP contract, which is controlled by strategic health authorities […]
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Interim flu line for 100,000 cases a day
The Department of Health’s interim flu line service is expected to be operational by next week, as the government predicts 100,000 swine flu cases a day by the end of August. The interim arrangements for the flu line, which has had its name changed to the National Pandemic Flu Service, have been put in place […]
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Google says user data aids flu detection
Google’s co-founder Larry Page has said that the European Commission’s demand for user data to be deleted after six months would prevent the site from being able to plot and predict potential pandemics.
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Interim flu line plans unveiled
The Department of Health is drawing up plans for an interim flu line after admitting that its National Flu Line Service will not be ready until October. Health secretary Alan Johnson told the House of Commons that the alternative system would let patients call a single number and that this would generate the collection of […]
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No National Flu Line until autumn
A telephone and web-based National Flu Line service to offer advice and authorise access to antiviral medicines in the event of a pandemic will not be ready until the autumn, the Department of Health has admitted.
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Planning for pandemic flu
Clinical Solutions is helping to lay the foundations for coping with an outbreak of pandemic flu. Sarah Bruce reports.
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New media core to pandemic flu plans
A UK-wide 24-hour telephone and web-based service would be the only route for people to get anti-viral medicines in the event of a flu pandemic, according to the latest guidance. The advice from the British Medical Association’s General Practitioner Committee and the Royal College of General Practitioners, backed by the Department of Health, warns that […]
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