One in three don’t collect anti-virals
More than one in three people have failed to collect their anti-viral medicine after being issued with an authorisation number by the National Pandemic Flu Service, according to latest statistics. Figures published by the Department of Health for the first two weeks of the NPFS show that out of 511,282 people who completed assessment on […]
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Flu service ‘misses other conditions’
Nine out of 10 GPs believe that diagnosing swine flu over the phone will mean that other diseases may be missed, according to the results of a survey conducted in the last few days. A total of 251 GPs responded to a poll by GP newspaper and 87% said diagnosing swine flu over the telephone […]
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Major chain offers Tamiflu online
Pharmacy giant Lloydspharmacy has begun selling Tamiflu online to patients who do not have swine flu. The pharmacy giant said it was selling the anti-viral medicine "in advance of need" to customers who wanted to make sure they had Tamiflu if they needed it and for people travelling abroad. Packs of 10 x 75mg Tamiflu […]
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Lords question flu response
Members of the House of Lords have told the government they have “significant concerns” about the delay in the launch of the full National Pandemic Flu Service, which is not due to be ready until 1 October. In a report on pandemic flu, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee said the government appeared […]
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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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Swine Flu tracking on Qsurveillance
Healthcare IT system supplier EMIS is encouraging its GPs practices to sign up to its primary care tracking database QSurveillance to help provide national and local information on swine flu. EMIS said the QSurveillance database is already providing information on 23m patients from 3500 GP practices and that the level of detail provided in reports […]
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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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Problems at flagship urgent care service
A flagship urgent care service covering five primary care trusts generated dozens of complaints from patients and doctors in its first two months of operation – and call handler NHS Direct had £23,000 withheld for failing to meet its contractual requirements. West Yorkshire Urgent Care covers more than 2m patients in Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield, Calderdale […]
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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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