The flu pandemic is here – so will someone tell PCOs?

17 Jun 09

Well, it’s official, a flu pandemic is here. When it came, the World Health Organization’s declaration that swine flu had gone global was greeted as a bit of an anticlimax by the national media. It might be the first flu pandemic since 1969, but most of the cases appeared relatively mild, the story had been around for weeks and in any case, Ronaldo was off to Real Madrid for a world-record fee. The following day, swine flu wasn’t even the top story on the BBC’s health news site, bumped off by a piece about how patients struggled to recognise the organs of the human body.

The UK’s first swine flu death, in a woman who had been pregnant and had underlying health problems, created a fresh jolt of interest among press and public. GPs, though, cannot afford to be so fickle in their focus on the pandemic, as it becomes clear practices may not have until the autumn to get their planning in order. The LMCs conference last week warned that GPs faced an ‘impossible’ workload, with projections of how up to half the population could fall ill no longer belonging to the realm of science fiction.

Yet while GPs are waking up to the full implications of a pandemic, many primary care organisations seem as complacent as ever. A Pulse investigation this week finds only the minority of PCOs have taken action to gear up for a full-blown pandemic since the chaotic early days of the outbreak.

Fewer than one trust in three has made any moves to draw up email lists of locums and retired doctors ready for an outbreak, even though when swine flu first hit, just 15% of locums received updates on how they should respond. Only about one trust in four has commissioned extra services to help practices cope, and in Birmingham – the scene of Europe’s biggest outbreak – managers have taken the astonishing decision to cancel their contract with the local out-of-hours service, which had been an essential relief valve for local GPs.

Then there is the issue of insurance, with concerns GPs may not be sufficiently covered for swine flu work. The GPC was unwise to present the national media with a gift by suggesting GPs might refuse to work during a pandemic – but negotiators were right to insist that if GPs are to throw themselves into moves to control swine flu, they have a right to feel free of the threat of legal action.

PCOs, and the Government, have a real choice ahead of them now. If they are not going to provide GPs with proper support in the event of a full-blown flu pandemic, they will have to choose which services they no longer require practices to provide. Trusts in Birmingham apparently judged the cost of the flu support service as ‘excessive’. But if PCOs don’t get their houses in order, and provide the necessary planning and resources, the price for patients and practices will be far higher.

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Story date 17 Jun 09

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