Swine flu update: note from District Council

As of Friday 18th September 2009

Antiviral Medication

Hertfordshire, like other areas across the East of England, is experiencing low levels of demand for antiviral medication and the remaining antiviral collection points in the county have now been closed.

People with an authorisation number from the National Pandemic Flu Service can now collect antiviral medication from a number of pharmacies:

Asda Pharmacy, Hatfield

Opening hours: 8am to 10pm, Monday to Saturday; 10am to 4pm, Sunday

Boots, Waterfields Retail Park, Watford

Opening hours: 8am to midnight, Monday to Saturday; 11am to 5pm, Sunday

Lloyds Pharmacy, Hoddesdon

Opening hours: 8.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday; 9am to 4pm, Saturday

Rooneys Chemist, Tring

Opening hours: 9.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday; 9.30am to 5pm, Saturday

Sanjivani Pharmacy, Hertford

Opening hours: 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday; 9am to 12.30pm, Saturday

Vaccination Programme

Plans for how the swine flu vaccination programme will be delivered at a national level have not yet been finalised. The PCT is continuing to prepare locally.

IS HERTFORDSHIRE RESILIENT?

Concerns have been raised at the public awareness of what to do I the case of large-scale emergencies. Only 12% of the population when surveyed felt well-informed about emergency planning. This compares with 20% in Norfolk and a national average of 15%. Some part of Hertfordshire showed as low as 10% awareness.

Chris White said: ‘It is unfortunate that this obscure term “resilience” is being used and that the effort to get the message across is badged “Hertfordshire Resilience”.’

He added: ‘It is important that the public have greater awareness of what to do in the case of a major emergency – simple things like securing passports, taking their keys with them and so forth may not be obvious unless you have thought about it beforehand.

‘Hertfordshire county council needs to look again at the appropriateness of its radio advertisements, at whether they are reaching out to younger people sufficiently and what is being done in other counties. Why is Norfolk twice as successful as Hertfordshire in raising public awareness?’

SICKNESS LEVELS IN FIRE SERVICE ‘CAUSE FOR CONCERN’

Liberal Democrats have questioned fire service officials about the levels of sickness in the fire service.

Chris White, who leads for the fire service, said: ‘It is remarkable that there has been a surge in the days lost through sickness in the fire and rescue service. Some of this can be explained by one or two instances of long term sickness but much of the rest is a mystery.

‘The problem is particularly acute amongst non-uniformed staff: in 2008-2009 there were 847 days lost through sickness absence, a 34% increase over the previous year. This is about 8 days per staff member per year.

‘Nearly all measures – uniformed and non-uniformed – see a rise: one shows an increase of 148%.’

HAS COUNTY LEARNED THE LESSONS OF THE WINTER WHEN IT COMES TO FLU?

Liberal Democrats at county hall have cast doubt on whether the county council will be ready to deal with a full blown swine flu emergency.

Lib Dem Leader Chris White, who leads for his group on emergency planning, said: ‘The county council was a shambles when there was a minor snowfall – with a hopelessly inadequate communications programme and website and confusion about the degree to which radio stations were equipped to cope with large amounts of local information.

‘Documents I have seen do not give me assurance that important messages to the public will be delivered in an effective manner.

‘I am assured that “IT people” are happy with the website arrangements now in place should there be an autumn surge in swine flu. But what matters is whether new systems have been tested with local people, local schools and other local institutions.

‘Too much relies on pupil post and other outdated technology. We need to look at communicating with the public by email, Twitter and other means.’

Warnings about how fire starts

Press notice from Herts County Council Fire and Rescue service

During the late summer months and early autumn, low level sunlight could shine in through a window in your home and start a fire, warn firefighters.

Following a spate of fires caused by light reflecting onto flammable materials, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is warning residents that mirrors or glass ornaments placed on window sills or in direct sunlight are potentially hazardous.

A recent fire in Markyate was caused by the sun shining into a bedroom. When the sunlight reflected off a mirror and onto the curtains in the room, the intensity of the heat set the curtains alight.

Another fire in Welwyn Garden City was caused by the sun shining through a glass ornament on the window sill. The glass magnified the beam of sunlight and set fire to a pile of clothes.

Dave Stokes, Station Commander and Fire Investigator said: “A fire caused by a mirror or glass object may seem extremely unusual and unlucky, but it does happen. Fire can have devastating effects and it is worth taking the time to move any mirrors or glass objects out of direct sunlight.

“Closing doors before going to bed or leaving the house will help to contain a fire if it does start; giving you more time escape and can help to limit the damage to the property.”

Swine flu update: note from District Council

The number of swine flu cases reported in Hertfordshire remains at a low level.

The NHS in Hertfordshire is thought to be in a strong position to manage any increase in cases this autumn as they have been planning for a much more severe situation than is now being forecast.

Their focus continues to be on maintaining their network of antiviral collection points (ACPs) which are ready to manage any sudden increase in demand for antiviral medication and to plan the implementation of the swine flu vaccination programme this autumn.

ACPs are currently open at Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City; Watford; Hoddesdon; Tring.

NHS organisations are working up detailed plans to vaccinate front line clinical staff and with colleagues in GP practices to vaccinate those in the priority high risk groups.

It is expected that the return to school after the summer break will lead to an increase in the number of people reporting swine flu symptoms. Parents will shortly be receiving a joint letter from Children, Schools and Families and the PCTs. This letter will outline the latest update on swine flu and will explain that we are not expecting schools to close if they have cases, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Essential maintenance to start on A414 North Orbital Road

County Council press release:

Essential resurfacing and maintenance work is due to start on the A414 North Orbital Road, between St Albans and Colney Heath on September 14. It is expected to take three weeks, weather permitting.

The work is part of the county council’s ongoing commitment to maintaining and improving the highway network in Hertfordshire. It will involve:

• Removing and replacing the existing worn out carriageway
• Replacing any broken or worn ironworks (such as gratings and gulley covers)
• Cleaning the drainage system
• Renewing road markings

To reduce disruption for road users, work will be carried out overnight, between 9pm 5:30am. Full road closures will be necessary between the London Colney roundabout and the ‘longabout’ at the Napsbury Lane turning, and up to Highfield Lane during working hours. There will also be occasional lane closures during the daytime and warning signs will be in place.

There will be a fully signed local diversion route in operation at various stages of the project. This will be via the A414 London Colney Roundabout, A1081 London Road, Drakes Drive, A1057 Hatfield Road, A1057 St Albans Road West, A1001 Comet Way, A1001 Roehyde Interchange, and A414 North Orbital Road – and vice versa.

Hertfordshire Highways are also reminding local people to be wary of doorstep conmen posing as council contractors while the works are going on. Genuine highways contractors do not call on householders with offers to tarmac driveways or do other work with materials ‘left over’ from roadworks.

Local bus services should not be directly affected by the work.

Chris challenges Herts Highways over performance

Chris White today challenged Herts Highways over performance, concentrating on a number of areas:
– the way the county council determines its priorities, given that the list of roads to be repaired almost invariably defies public expectations
– the problem that the system anyway seems to favour rural areas over urban areas
– the way in which publicly given commitments are too frequently reneged on, often for no good reason
– the way public money is wasted on poorly planned or poorly executed work, which then has to be redone
– the lack of information available to the public or to councilors on the web.

Chris also flagged up the St Albans highways survey, put together by the Liberal Democrats, which is now due to come to committee in October.

Chris says: ‘There are some serious issues of performance here. I am glad that we got some time with Herts Highways and some indications of action. But it remains to be seen what will come of our concerns.’