Don’t Panic!

The scare mongers, and especially “Sir” Liam Donaldson the Chief Medical Officer, told the NHS to plan for the possibility of up to 65,000 deaths from the disease this winter – although he said as few as 19,000 could occur.

A national flu helpline will be set up within seven days to diagnose the condition and give out antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu. However, it will be staffed by people with no medical training. The move is designed to ease pressure on GPs.

Police chiefs in the West Midlands gave warning on Thursday that the pandemic poses a more serious threat to the country than terrorism.

A set of “planning assumptions” has been given to the NHS to ensure that hospitals, clinics and medical staff are ready if the worst transpires.

Under those assumptions, up to one third of the population could be infected this winter.

Up to half of all children could be infected during the first major wave of the pandemic, Sir Liam said.

Hospitals will be expected to ensure that plans are in place to deal with up to 360,000 patients who need hospital treatment, of which 90,000 could need critical care. The last two outbreaks of pandemic flu in this country – in 1958 and between 1968 and 1970 – both killed around 30,000 people.

The Jobbing Doctor as usual has a common sense approach to this, “We will just quietly get on with seeing the people, making assessments, being exposed to the virus (probably) on a regular basis. We hope that when the 'National Flu helpline' starts, being manned by non-medically trained people with a computer algorithm, it will deal with some of the more frivolous enquiries, without missing serious illness. I will still insist on seeing under 5-year-olds if there are any doubts, and we will get through this.”

So come on you “experts” let us just wait and see, yes plan for the worst but don’t try to scare the population into a panic.


Angus

Angus Dei on all and sundry

Angus Dei politico