The numbers of Swine Flu cases being admitted into hospital have now dropped to the lowest level since the emergence of the virus, with GP consultations reflecting continuous falling or stable levels being reported by the HPA (Health Protection Agency). With the numbers of Flu Like Illnesses now being reported at levels below season norms, we see the national and local apparatus developed to respond to the Pandemic being dismantled as appropriate.
Although Swine Flu was and continues to be seen as a generally mild disease in people so far, it provided severe and fatal symptoms in a minority of cases. There is of course the potential for resurgence in the coming Autumn, or mutation into a new more virulent virus. Nevertheless we can, to-date, be thankful that the first Pandemic of the 21st Century was overall a mild disease.
However, it did test many of our local health economy services and brought the benefits of new partnership working and provided a vehicle to refine our response systems and procedures. As part of this refining process we now invite you to take part in this Herefordshire Swine Flu questionnaire which is designed to analyse the strengthens and weaknesses of our local response throughout the Swine Flu Pandemic as well as test any pre-conceived ideas of the status of our planning preparedness and the systems we have developed to command and control.
The questionnaire will take you up to 30 minutes to complete depending on your response to open questions. You can save and return to the questionnaire at the end of each section. The results will be collated and developed into a report which we intend to publish mid June 2010.
So that we can meet this tight time line we respectfully request that your responses are submitted within three weeks, by 28/05/2010 so we can start processing the response data.
Your contributions are vital to the development of a true understanding of what Herefordshire NHS and our partners did well and not do so well during the peaks of the Swine Flu Pandemic and how we can improve our local planning, communications and response mechanisms in preparation for whatever the future may bring.
On behalf of Sue Doheny as Flu Director, and the Joint Emergency Planning Unit may I thank you in advance for your co-operation in this matter.
This consultation has now closed and the formal response is available.
Consultation Summary
| Name | Swine Flu de-brief survey |
|---|---|
| Description | An evaluation of the effectiveness of the response to the Swine Flu Pandemic. |
| Dates | From 10 May 2010 at 00:00 to 3 Jun 2010 at 23:59. The results were published on 11 Jun 2010. |
| Status | Complete |
| Contact | If you have any questions, please contact
|
Who is consulting? |
|
| Organisation | Primary Care Trust |
| Department | Quality and Clinical Leadership |
| Contact name | Stephanie Macpherson |
| Contact email address | Stephanie.macpherson@herefordpct.nhs.uk |
| Contact telephone number | 01432 344344 |
Who are we consulting with? |
|
| Target audience | Staff, Stakeholders, Expert stakeholders |
| Interest Areas | Specialist health services |
| The parish(es) covered | |
| The ward(s) covered | Countywide |
Why are we consulting? |
|
| The reason for this consultation | Swine Flu Debrief |
How are we consulting? |
|
| The methodologies that were used | Online survey/poll |
| Methods of promotion | Other |
How are the results used? |
|
| How the results are being used | The results of this survey will support general learning outcomes from a wide range of stakeholders who together went through the first major Flu Pandemic the Country had seen in the last 30 years. It will establish the strengths and weaknesses felt by these stakeholders during the planning and response phase of the Swine Flu Pandemic, thereby: • Support continuous improvement in true holistic multi-agency planning; • Help understand weaknesses in operational response, and; • Develop a needs analysis covering further guidance, training requirements and resources in preparation for the next Pandemic. |
The outcome of this consultation |
|
| Summary of the results | |
| How to obtain the full results | The results will be collated with the support of the Research Unit, Swine Flu Project Team Members & Emergency Planning. Emergency Planning will be responsible for issuing the final report. |
| Comments on the response to this consultation | |
Any further information |
|
| Additional comments | |