NHS asks for support as flu cases rise

Dr Ruth Hussey

Health leaders and senior doctors have made a fresh appeal to people in local communities for their support as GP and A&E teams cope with record numbers of patients.

In the North West the number of people in critical care with symptoms of seasonal flu has gone up in the past seven days.

There are now 108 people in critical care who have been confirmed as having seasonal flu, the majority of who have underlying health conditions, such as diabetes, asthma and heart-disease.

This is up from 74 for the previous week.

Early indications are that ambulance calls are up by approximately to 25,646 – an increase of 8.5% on the same week last year.

Dr Ruth Hussey, North West Director for Public Health said that NHS staff are doing a fantastic job to make sure they use all their facilities flexibly to provide the best possible care in the light of this increase in patients attending services.

Dr Hussey said: “We don’t know at the moment whether the flu season has peaked. We have asked all our hospitals to make sure that they can expand the number of critical care beds and that they can move staff from routine duties to help if necessary.

“What we need more than ever before is the support of local people. I’d like to repeat the request that if you are a normally healthy adult and have a complaint such as a cold, sore throat, upset stomach, back ache and even flu, you can self-treat the symptoms using some basic essentials, such as paracetamol, cough and cold remedies and re-hydration medicines for stomach upsets such as diarrhoea. If we can get as many people as possible to self-treat, this will leave our GPs, community nurses, paramedics, hospital doctors and nurses free to treat those who are seriously ill with flu and other life-threatening conditions.”

Dr Hussey said that the response to the NHS’s Choose Well campaign has been very positive. Choose Well aims to get more people to self-treat for common complaints, to ease pressure on NHS teams – and to make use of more local services such as pharmacies, walk-in-centres, urgent care centres and NHS Direct.

“Sometimes people with a heavy cold think they have the flu. Colds and flu are both caused by viruses. The main difference is that with flu, you have the sudden on-set of a high temperature. Your symptoms should peak within two-to-three days and you should start to feel better within four-to-five days. However, if your symptoms suddenly deteriorate or you are not getting better, telephone your GP for advice”.

A large number of people with long-term health problems who are at risk of complications if they catch seasonal flu have now been vaccinated or have booked to have their flu jab.

There are a number of useful websites with information about how to self-treat for common complaints - including flu - such as www.nhs.uk; www.northwest.nhs.uk/choosewell ; and a series of short-films giving advice are available at www.youtube.com/nwnhs