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| Swine Flu Advice |
| Written by Communications Team |
|
Medical Director at Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust, Dr Mike Baxter, has the following advice: “St Peter’s hospital is seeing increasing numbers of patients presenting at A&E with flu-like symptoms, and most don’t need to come to hospital at all. In order to limit the spread of the illness and to relieve pressure on the department, we would ask those who have flu-like symptoms not to come to A&E unless they are very ill. Similarly we would ask people not to telephone A&E directly for advice. Instead you should seek advice from either the new National Pandemic Flu Line or, if you have other serious underlying health conditions, from your GP. We have seen a particularly high number of children coming to our paediatric A&E department over the last week with coughs and colds and increasing numbers of calls from worried parents. To prevent infection, when they come to hospital children need to be isolated and asked to wear a mask which can be very upsetting for them. Most don’t need to come to hospital and we would ask parents to seek advice from the National Pandemic Flu Line in the first instance, unless of course their children are very ill. For children under one, parents should contact their GP. Of course we understand that people are concerned but most people who have contracted the illness have recovered well and in most cases have only experienced a relatively mild bout of flu. Ashford and St. Peter’s is certainly well prepared for a flu pandemic, but it is important that people understand the right place to go for advice and treatment, so we and the other hospitals in the area can concentrate on dealing with those who do need emergency treatment.” |
