Swine flu GP's advice: keep calm and carry on
Updated on 15 July 2009
Don't panic and we'll get through it - that's the advice of Dr Peter Stott, who blogs for Channel 4 News from his surgery in Surrey.
We GPs have been inundated – not with very ill people; rather with people who are worried they might become very ill. At the moment, this flu epidemic is mild – certainly less severe than the flu bugs we see during average winters. Nevertheless, the media have created the impression of a serious illness and lots of people are ringing for advice.
At our practice, we have had to create a new telephone advice clinic, manned by one of our GPs. This means that every day, one of us has had to be taken off routine surgeries to answer queries. So other patients with other illnesses are finding waiting times are longer.
If you get flu, stay at home. Be sensible and look after yourself. Take paracetamol or aspirin and drink lots of water-based drinks. If your symptoms become severe – high temperature above 38 degrees centigrade, cough, severe sore throat and muscles aches - or if you have other medical problems or lowered immunity, then phone your GP for advice. Phone too if the patient is a child under one year. Some people may be offered antivirals. If so, you will need a non-infected ‘buddy’ to go and collect them.
The last thing we want is for people with mild flu to mix with others; or to call their doctor out; or to go to out-of-hours centres or A&E departments. That would only result in a faster spread, infection of vital medical staff and a breakdown of the healthcare system.
It’s inevitably that doctors and nurses will get flu too – but hopefully not all at once. We can cope if the rate of rise of illness is controlled; but only if people with flu behave responsibly.
If your GP is not available then there is a national phone advice line on 0800 1 513 513 or you can call NHS Direct on 0845 4647.
At the moment, this is a mild illness. Don’t panic and we will get through it.
Dr Peter Stott is a GP at the Tadworth Medical Centre in Surrey.
