Swine flu update: note from District Council

As of Friday 17th July 2009

The swine flu epidemic in the UK is in the Treatment Phase. There is no longer laboratory testing to confirm whether a person has swine flu or another influenza-like infection.

There have been 94,512 confirmed cases reported in 135 countries. These numbers are thought to significantly under represent the true case number. There have been 17 deaths in the UK including 14 cases with underlying medical conditions.

Hertfordshire PCT continues to distribute antivirals through pharmacy distribution points. Multi-agency planning for the setting up of Antiviral Collection Points across the county continues.

No schools in Hertfordshire are closed, although there are some reported cases of swine flu.

A combination of the following methods is used to monitor the prevalence of the disease across the UK:

Reports on Primary Care consultation rates
Surveys
Laboratory confirmed cases
Calls to NHS Direct that report influenza-like infections

The Council continues to assess the position on an on-going basis, and weekly at the Chief Executive’s Board meeting.

Swine flu update: note from District Council

The swine flu epidemic in the UK has now moved to the Treatment Phase. This means that there will no longer be laboratory testing to confirm whether a person has swine flu or another influenza-like infection.

The Government is broadly following the approach that is taken to monitor seasonal flu. The consequence is that the statistics by geographical area are no longer available for the UK, East of England region, Hertfordshire or St Albans City and District. This effectively means the whole country is now a ‘hot spot’.

By national agreement, the PCTs (both west and east) lead on media liaison and media communications locally on the subject of swine flu and preventative measures. We get all our information via the Hertfordshire NHS Primary Care Trusts resilience team who cover the whole county. We keep in touch with the PCTs on a regular basis and will continue to encourage them to promote clear messages to local residents.

Antiviruals for people diagnosed with swine flu by a medical practitioner are being distributed through cooperating pharmacists. Multi-agency planning for the setting up of Antiviral Collection Points across the county continues but there is no indication of when or where these may be required.

Swine flu update: note from District Council

Swine Flu
Weekly Briefing for Members

Monday 6 July 2009

The Council continues to work with the local Primary Care Trust and other partners and to assess the position on an on-going basis, and weekly at the Chief Executive’s Board meeting.

Planning for the activation of antiviral collection points continues (note that Watford activated an antiviral collection point last weekend (27/28 June).

Council personnel policies and procedures are being reviewed to cater for a pandemic scenario within the St Albans area, should that be necessary.

Latest figures show:

Countries infected: 116
Confirmed cases globally: 70893 including 311 deaths
Confirmed cases UK: 6538 including 3 confirmed deaths
Confirmed case East of England: 326
Confirmed cases Hertfordshire 57 (Herts PCT stats – last updated 26/6/09)

The Department of Health and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) have identified several areas in the UK where there is now widespread community transmission of swine flu – these are sometimes referred to as ‘hotspots’. Watford, Luton and Bedford are identified as hotspots. The latest West Hertfordshire PCT statement (see http://www.wherts-pct.nhs.uk/Content.asp?id=SXB127-A77F8085&cat=1375) reports that hotspot areas now include the Watford, Three Rivers and Hertsmere district council areas.

Councillors may wish to note that advice for faith groups is that ‘in a pandemic, it makes good sense to take precautions to limit the spread of disease by not sharing common vessels for food and drink.’ The email address for further information and specific enquiries on this subject is emergenciesmanagement@communities.gsi.gov.uk.

The HPA continues to watch for antiviral resistance and will be carrying out regular sample testing throughout this outbreak. An HPA press release on this subject can be found at http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1246345135429

Swine flu: Watford, Hertsmere and Three Rivers areas of ‘widespread community transmission’

Yesterday the Health Protection Agency announced that Watford, Hertsmere and Three Rivers have been designated as areas of “widespread community transmission”. In essence this means that attempts to contain the spread of the virus have had only a limited success and swine flu is now increasingly prevalent within the community – a situation we share with colleagues in the West Midlands, London, Luton and parts of Berkshire.

We are consulting with the HPA as to the practical implications of this announcement but we understand that this change of status may mean a different approach is taken to manage outbreaks in school, in that particular part of the county. Whilst local risk assessments will continue to be performed by the HPA and Head Teachers at each school associated with cases, we understand that closure will not normally be recommended unless there are some special circumstances. This reflects the opportunities for further exposures to occur in the community compared with areas where there is no significant community transmission.

Staff in CSF will continue to work closely with Head Teachers to try to minimise the impact on school activity of sickness absence amongst pupils and staff between now and the end of the school term.

From HCC’s perspective the likely consequences are:
less pressure on staff to find emergency child-care solutions (where schools might otherwise have closed)
potentially higher sickness absence from staff living and / or working in that part of the county
increased staff absence where carers need to stay at home to look after close family members who themselves catch swine flu.

All departments have recently refreshed their business continuity plans which should put us in a good position to deal with this situation and ensure that all HCC services can be delivered with the minimum of disruption.

Swine flu update: note from District Council

Swine Flu

The Council is working with the local Primary Care Trust and other partners. The position continues to be assessed on an on-going basis, and weekly at the Chief Executive’s Board meeting. There has been an acceleration in the last week or so which is affecting how plans are developing. This also means that the figures below are susceptible to change.

Planning for the activation of antiviral collection points continues.

Council personnel policies and procedures are being reviewed to cater for a pandemic scenario within the St Albans area, should that be necessary.

Latest figures show:

Countries infected: 99
Confirmed cases globally: 49,646 including 230 deaths
Confirmed cases EU/EFTA: 4245
Confirmed cases UK: 2905
Confirmed case East of England: 101
Confirmed cases Hertfordshire 21

The latest West Hertfordshire PCT statement can be seen at http://www.wherts-pct.nhs.uk/Content.asp?id=SXBA17-A77F7FE9&cat=1375

One school in Hertfordshire, in Bushey, is closed. Two further schools, in Stevenage and St Albans have confirmed cases, but remain open.

There have been some minor modifications to the guidance to schools. While the local risk assessment process will still apply, where there is evidence of significant community transmission, closure of a school will not normally be recommended unless there are special circumstances.

There is evidence of sustained community transmission in the West Midlands, the Clyde Estuary and London.

Swine flu update: note from District Council

Swine Flu

Weekly Briefing for Members

Friday 12th June 2009

On the 11 June the World Health Organisation announced a Phase 6 alert indicating a ‘flu pandemic in at least two regions in the world. The pandemic relates to geographic spread and not severity of the symptoms, which are described as moderate with few cases requiring hospital treatment. Infection levels remain low in the UK.

We do not anticipate our planning and actions will change significantly as a result of this announcement and will continue to follow guidance from the Government and the Health Protection Agency.

The Council continues to work with the local Primary Care Trust and other partners on contingency planning. HR policies are being reviewed and infection control continues.

Details of how to obtain swine flu leaflets in a variety of languages are included on the SADC website.

The position continues to be assessed on an on-going basis and weekly at the Chief Executive’s Board meeting.

Latest figures show:

Countries infected: 73

Confirmed cases globally: 24731 plus

Confirmed cases UK: 822

Confirmed cases East of England: 43

Confirmed cases Hertfordshire: 7

The latest PCT statement can be seen at http://www.wherts-pct.nhs.uk/Content.asp?id=SXC435-A77F7FA5&cat=1375

Swine flu update

Note to district councillors from the Chief Executive

This is just to let you know that the Health Protection Agency and Herts
PCT have issued a statement which provides an update on the swine ‘flu
situation within Hertfordshire. They have identified four cases of swine
‘flu in the county. All those affected are being treated in accordance
with standard treatment including individual confinement and
anti-virals. The Health Protection Agency has not stated where in
Hertfordshire these cases are located. A copy of the statement may be
found at the following link:
http://www.wherts-pct.nhs.uk/Content.asp?id=SXA516-A77F7F42

In terms of St Albans City and District Council’s activities, the
council continues to monitor the situation and to ensure contingency
planning is in place. For our staff, government advice is that people
should maintain good hygiene, and wash hands often. Staff are encouraged
to use the alcohol gel and sterile wipes which have been placed in
kitchens and next to photocopiers. The position is currently assessed
weekly at the Chief Executive’s Board.

Government advice on travel and public meetings is that it is safe to
travel to both Mexico and the US, and for public meetings to go ahead.
In other words, business as usual.

The agreement with the PCT is that it will take the lead on public
communication with the other local public bodies acting in support. We
will issue another update to all members later in the week. A separate
briefing note will be sent to all staff this afternoon.

Letter from PCT updating on swine flu preparations

Dear colleague

The national media is giving extensive coverage to the swine flu situation and there is a lot of information available to the public through the Department of Health and Health Protection Agency. What we wanted to do was to present our key stakeholders with an outline of the position here in Hertfordshire.

For some years now, we have been working hard on a local level to draw up robust plans to deal with an occurrence of pandemic flu. This planning has seen us here in the PCTs working closely with a range of partners across the county, including Hertfordshire County Council, the police service, fire service, colleagues in local councils together with acute Trusts and other health providers. And now we are putting these plans into action. The Local Resilience Forum has convened a strategic co-ordinating group that is chaired by the PCT and meeting twice-weekly, working effectively to co-ordinate our approach.

There is a high level of preparedness here for the situation we find ourselves in and each day teams of staff are working together to ensure that as the disease moves into different phases, we are in a very strong position to protect and to treat the people of Hertfordshire as required. This involves, for example, liaising with HPA and our colleagues at the Strategic Health Authority to secure the appropriate quantities of antiviral drugs and arranging for their storage and distribution.

Other procurement issues we are handling include ensuring we have sufficient quantities of masks and other protective equipment for our health professionals Our GP colleagues are crucial to the success of our operation and so we are providing them with regular briefings and a contact point for all their queries and issues.

Communication with the public is so important during times such as these. We are providing regularly updated material on our website and working with partners across the county so that they too are providing useful information and in a consistent way. We are also finding our local media helpful in covering the key messages including those that concern what everyone as individuals can do to prevent infection. We will continue to send out appropriate communications to our wide range of audiences as matters unfold.

At the time of writing there were no confirmed cases in Hertfordshire and whilst we hope this remains the case, we also know that this situation may well change in the coming weeks. On a positive note, we are confident that, with continued joint working with our partners, we will handle any escalation in severity effectively.

If you do want to know more, our websites contain additional information and the HPA site is very comprehensive and contains a wealth of useful material.

www.wherts-pcts.nhs.uk
www.enherts-pct.nhs.uk
www.hpa.org.uk

With best wishes

Dr Jane Halpin
Director of Public Health

Swine flu: advice to the public from the Local Government Association

Advice to the public

• Although of concern, the events in Mexico are unusual. The UK government is closely monitoring the situation and bringing together key agencies to ensure an effective and efficient response
• People returning from a visit to an affected area are advised to monitor their health closely for seven days. If during this period they develop a feverish illness accompanied by one or more of a cough, sore throat, headache or muscle aches, they should stay at home and contact their GP by phone or seek advice from NHS Direct (0845 4647)
• At the moment advice is to be vigilant and take sensible precautions
• Good hygiene like using a tissue and washing hands thoroughly can help reduce transmission
• The Health Protection Agency is the lead agency responsible for providing public health advice to the Department of Health and supporting all aspects of the public health response to a flu pandemic
• Some press coverage is not surprisingly emphasising the potential risk of a flu pandemic: this is alarmist and it is important to note that there is currently no pandemic. This message is reinforced in an LGA press notice issued today

Health changes – a summary

As of today:
– The Acute Admissions Unit has now opened at Watford with 38 beds (and should be fully operational in a fortnight with an additional 22 beds)
– The first of two Catheterisation Laboratories has already opened at Watford and the Watford Cardiac Care Unit has been extended
– The Watford Stroke Unit has been extended
– The Hemel Hempstead Cardiac Care Unit has transferred to Watford
– An additional CT Scanner and other specialised diagnostics will be commisssioned in the Watford AAU next week
– All chest pain patients both in ambulance and ‘GP heralded’ go to Watford AAU or straight to Cardiac Centre
– All blue-light ambulance cases from St Albans go to Watford A&E or AAU or Cardiac Centre or Stroke Unit
– All acute stroke cases go to Watford AAU or straight to the Stroke Unit.

Next week:
– a specialised Gastro Ward opens in Watford
– planned surgery at Hemel Hempstead ceases.

In a fortnight:
– Simpson Ward patients from Hemel Hempstead transfer to specialised beds in Watford
– all ‘GP heralded’ patients will be directed to Watford.

On 13th March: Intensive Care and Emergency Surgery at Hemel Hempstead cease.

Planned surgery continues unchanged at St Albans.