I’ve never had flu. I know this because a GP once told me that if I was suffering from flu, I’d be unable to get out of bed, even if somebody dropped a £50 note on the lawn outside my window and I had to watch it blow away in the breeze. That’s how ill I’d feel, he said. It is nothing like having a sniffle and an irritating cough.

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Earlier this week, a friend of mine – a GP in Australia who was whiling away a few consultations on Facebook – posted an update from her PCT-equivalent about swine flu. It was preceded by the following ‘motivational’ message:

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It seems a week and a half is a very long time in healthcare. I’ve just returned from holiday to find the country in the midst of swine flu panic and that Lord Darzi has resigned.

The first of these is having a huge impact on GP practices, the latter less so seeing as the minister had finished his meddling in primary care and was set to turn his attention to the acute sector.

When I left the country, the DoH had just shifted its approach to swine flu from containment to mitigation – a couple of weeks later, the number of cases is rising and everyone, it seems, is fretting about the virus.

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If you are confused and looking for clear guidance on swine flu, well you are not alone.

As the government changes its strategy (again) to deal with swine flu, a survey of GPs carried out by Doctors.net.uk has just revealed that only a tenth of GPs in the UK have been given regular, clear and concise guidance about swine flu by their PCT.

PCTs have been criticised by pharmacists who said recently that PCT preparations for a swine flu pandemic ‘have not been as thorough or robust as we and the public would want’.

Just over a week ago, the DoH issued an updated guidance and sent a letter out to all SHA pandemic flu directors. According to the new guidance GPs should make a clinical diagnosis of swine flu instead of swabbing patients in areas where the spread of the virus can no longer be contained.

As little was known initially about the new virus, the DoH strategy was to try to slow its spread and avoid a pandemic. Although it seems that this ‘containment’ phase has helped slow the spread of the virus and gave time to build up medical supplies and make significant progress towards developing a vaccine, the objective now is to actually treat patients with swine flu.

With thousands of confirmed cases being declared every day, the DoH must have realised that it is now time to act rather than try to prevent. GPs will now be able to diagnose swine flu on the basis of symptoms rather than waiting for laboratory testing.

There were also talks about a possible suspension of the QOF in swine flu hotspots to help GPs focus on dealing with the pandemic. But it’s still unclear exactly when and how this will happen.

But it’s not all all negative. According to health secretary Andy Burnhamm, GPs are ‘coping extremely well with the outbreak’, and a flu hotline was very close to launching, which ‘will help to take some of the pressure off GPs’.

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