Flu vaccine plea issued as NHS braces for 'particularly difficult' season
Official figures show a sharp increase in new positive flu cases in Scotland
Health Secretary Neil Gray has issued a plea for eligible Scots to take up their flu vaccine after an early spike in cases.
The NHS is bracing for a “particularly difficult” winter season, he said, adding to existing pressures on emergency services.
Official figures show a sharp increase in new positive flu cases in Scotland, with 431 in the week ending November 9, which represents a 70 per cent rise on the previous week. The number of people admitted to hospital jumped from 115 to 218.
Dr Kim Marsh, from Public Health Scotland (PHS), said this year was “a particularly early start to the flu season”.
Flu deaths hit a 45-year high in Scotland last winter, although such data was historically poorly recorded. However, there are already concerns a record-breaking season in Australia could be replicated in the UK.
Dr Marsh said: "Through characterisation of the virus, we can also see that we are seeing a H3N2 drifted strain, which means it has the mutations to it and that might potentially cause more severe disease.”
Speaking in Holyrood, Mr Gray said: “Whilst it is too early to predict what the dominant flu virus strain will be this season or how this season will evolve, I am paying close attention to the data.
“With cases starting to rise and emerging evidence suggesting this may be another particularly difficult flu season, I urge all those who are eligible to come forward and make it a priority to get protected. No matter what, vaccination remains our best defence.
“Almost everyone eligible to receive their winter vaccinations should now have been contacted with a prompt to book or an appointment. For those who are eligible but have not yet heard, I’d encourage you to check the NHS Inform winter vaccines page for more information.
“Members will remember during the peak of the season last year, we saw emergency hospitalisations increase significantly, with more than 6,500 adults admitted to hospital as a result of flu.
“And this year, given the early rise in cases in children and teenagers, I want to specifically encourage parents and carers to support children to take up the offer of the vaccine when it is offered to them at school.
“This is also vital in helping prevent transmission of the virus on to older, or more vulnerable family members and friends. Vaccines are safe, effective and they save lives and I ask for the support of colleagues across the chamber to reinforce this message.”
It came as Mr Gray updated Holyrood on winter preparations for the NHS, including announcing an extra £20 million to bolster social care capacity.
The Scottish Ambulance Service will recruit more than 290 new frontline A&E staff this year to help deal with increased winter pressures, he said, while NHS 24 has also implemented a new call centre system backed by £5 million of investment.
“We know pressure on the system exacerbates over winter and I am determined to ensure that pressure is relieved as much as possible,” Mr Gray said. “We have been preparing plans for this winter season throughout the past year with NHS boards and local authorities.
“Our investment of £20 million will be crucial in our efforts to bolster social care capacity, reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and ensure people receive the right care in the most appropriate setting.”
Earlier, First Minister John Swinney told MSPs the Chief Medical Officer had warned him the flu season would be “particularly challenging” this year and could see services struggling over the winter months.
The flu vaccine is offered free to all children over the age of two and those aged 65 and over, as well as people aged 18 to 64 with eligible health conditions and others who are at increased risk, such as healthcare workers.
Scottish Conservative public health spokesman Brian Whittle said the SNP’s winter plans were not worth the paper they are written on.
“Neil Gray has had months to prepare, but instead of putting a credible strategy in place to get our health service through the difficult months ahead, he’s churned out more waffle that will do little to help frontline staff or patients,” he said.
“We’re facing the worst flu outbreak in years, but while the SNP health secretary lectures people to get vaccinated, many Scots are being told they won’t get their jabs until December. That’s far too late – just like Neil Gray’s sticking plaster plan.
“On the SNP’s watch, one in six Scots is on a waiting list, the failure to eradicate delayed discharge is clogging up beds and ambulances are piling up outside our hospitals.
“Winter is here, and Neil Gray seems to have been caught by surprise. Patients can’t afford for the NHS to keep lurching from crisis to crisis under the SNP.
“If Neil Gray wants to get serious about getting the NHS back on its feet, he needs to adopt our plans to help staff prioritise patients over paperwork and build an NHS that’s fit for the 21st Century.”
Colin Poolman, executive director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said Mr Gray’s statement in Holyrood felt like “too little, too late”.
He said: “Our members are wondering why a statement on winter preparedness is being made this late in the year and, having seen little let up in the pressure on services over the summer, they will rightly ask what difference today’s announcement can actually make over the coming months with so little time left to implement the proposals.
“The lack of engagement with NHS staff and their trade unions on developing these proposals raises questions about how much difference these can actually make. But we wait to discuss the detail of what what’s been announced when we meet Mr Gray next week.
“As a profession, we know first-hand how tough things are, but nursing is key to addressing these challenges. We want to be involved and engaged in making things better for patients and for our members. What they heard today was more warm words about how hard they work and how services depend upon their unstinting commitment – things about which they are only too well aware.
“The Scottish Government must commit to long-term action and investment.”
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