Ian Dalton, National Director of NHS Flu Resilience, wrote to all NHS Chief Executives on 27 January 2010 to advise them that the National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS) would be suspended from 11 February 2010.
This is because swine flu cases have been declining and UK flu activity has been at or below baseline levels for the time of year. He confirmed that advice and treatment for any influenza-like illness would still be available through primary care providers.
The National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS) was operated by NHS Direct on behalf of the Department of Health, utilising call centre capacity from both the public and private sector. NHS Direct’s role also included maintenance of the national directory of Antiviral Collection Points (ACPs) and the distribution of Management Information reports on NPFS to Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs).
Since its launch on Friday 23rd July 2009 2,731,081 assessments were completed, 1,806,741 unique reference numbers (URNs) issued and 1,160,476 antivirals collected.
Ian Dalton said, “With the support of the RCGP [Royal College of General Practitioners] and the BMA [British Medical Association], the NPFS was very successful in easing pressure on primary care services during the busiest times of the pandemic, allowing GPs to focus on those most ill, and ensuring people had access to antivirals when they needed them.”
PCTs, General Practices and community pharmacies have been advised to review their communications to patients, including websites, posters and leaflets, to remove references to the NPFS.
