Swine flu latest: Hotline goes live
Swine flu hotline and website launched in England to allow sufferers to obtain medicine without visiting GP
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Thursday, 23, Jul 2009 06:04
The government's unique national flu pandemic service has been launched online and over the phone.
The service, launched at 15:00 BST, allows people suffering from swine flu to obtain antivirals without a prescription.
Pandemic flu website (opens in new window)
Pandemic flu telephone: 0800 1 513 100
Designed to relieve pressure on the NHS, the service will nevertheless require pregnant women, people with underlying health conditions and infants aged under one to be referred to GPs.
More than 1,500 call centre staff will be working during office hours to allow people in England to answer a questionnaire to determine if they have the virus.
If a 'diagnosis' is established, staff will give the sufferer a voucher code to allow a 'swine flu buddy' to pick up medicine from a secret location.
Steve Field, the chairman of the Royal College of GPs, admitted the system would rely on people's honesty.
Commenting on fears the country's antiviral supply could be exhausted by fake symptoms he said: "One problem could be that the public decide all to ring at the same time to get Tamiflu 'just in case' or if they are about to go off on holiday this weekend.
"I imagine there will be a few people like that, but the public generally have so far reacted very stoically and shown common sense in this flu pandemic, and we need that to continue."
As the new service went live official figures showed 100,000 people had been diagnosed with the virus in the last week.