NHS Herefordshire has confirmed that the county has sufficient supplies of antivirals and has increased from six to nine the number of local pharmacies who can dispense medicine for people diagnosed by the National Pandemic Flu Service or local GPs.

Flu friends – a friend or relative who does not have swine flu – can use a unique authorisation number, issued by the national flu line, to pick up antiviral medicine from outlets in Hereford, Bromyard, Kington, Ledbury, Leominster and Ross. The primary care trust stresses that people in Herefordshire do not have to travel far, usually to their nearest market town, to collect antivirals. People can also collect medicine from other collections points in Worcestershire or Shropshire if they are closer for them.

Antiviral medicine is free on the NHS, and is offered to all who need them, so there is no reason to buy antivirals from other sources or from unregistered websites, which could be selling counterfeit or substandard medicines.

The national call centre - telephone 0800 1 513 100 – has significantly relieved much of the pressure felt by GP practices across the country, including those in Herefordshire. The primary care trust stresses that people can still speak to their GP if they are concerned, saying it is important that people with underlying health conditions, pregnant women, and parents with children under the age of one should speak to their GP if they have symptoms.

People should not go to the accident and emergency unit or their GP surgery if they suspect they have swine flu, unless they are advised to do so by a healthcare professional.

If people think they have swine flu they should stay at home, go online and check symptoms on www.nhs.uk or call the swine flu information line on 0800 1513513. If still concerned, people should then call the national flu service on 0800 1 513 100, or text phone 0800 1 513 200, which will make an assessment and may issue a unique antiviral authorisation number for the patient’s flu friend to collect a course of antiviral medicine. There is also a new dedicated web site www.direct.gov.uk/pandemicflu for people to check their symptoms.

Information for the public can be found on the NHS Choices information and advice service: http://www.nhs.uk/ as well as the Department of Health website: www.dh.gov.uk and the Health Protection Agency website: http://www.hpa.org.uk/ For local information see the council website: http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/ and the primary care trust web site: http://www.herefordshire.nhs.uk/