FEARS that the epidemic of swine flu is quickly gathering pace were confirmed yesterday by Ministers.
A staggering 100,000 people a day could fall victim to the virus by the end of next month.
The Government has signalled a common-sense change in its strategy by accepting the outbreak can no longer be contained. Instead health services will move t
o a phase treating the illness.
Britain, we are assured, has the most advanced plans in the world to deal with a flu pandemic and these will now be put to the test immediately.
If the first wave of infection does break over the next few weeks, the vast majority of people will not be vaccinated, raising the prospect that key frontline NHS staff, as well as those most vulnerable to the effects of flu, will not be protected.
Clearly getting the jab quickly to as many people as possible must be a key priority. Organising their provision for the rest of the population by the end of the year is likely to prove a massive logistical exercise.
In the meantime, the NHS must be put on a war footing to deal with the inevitable consequences.
The Government needs to quickly decide who will receive priority for anti-viral drugs, which will lessen the impact of the illness, and announce local collection points for the medication.
But it is the impact on hospital care which is likely to bring the biggest problems amid evidence that units in the West Midlands have faced significant difficulties already from large numbers of patients worried they have the illness. Routine hospital operations face suspension as beds are filled with the sick. As many critical care beds must be made available as possible and A&E units readied.
The next few months will put the NHS under great strain. Everyone has a part to play in making sure it does not collapse under the weight of it.
