NHS managers ‘more confident about swine flu than doctors’

A new survey has found that NHS managers are considerably more confident in the health service’s preparedness to deal with swine flu than doctors and nurses.

The poll of 1,500 NHS staff by the Health Service Journal and Nursing Times was published today and outlined the different opinions held by the respondents.

It found 59 per cent of managers believed their organisation was successfully dealing with the extra flow of patients due to swine flu, compared to just 37 per cent of clinicians.

Regarding the ability of the NHS to deal with the influx of patients, 56 per cent of managers said they felt the service was dealing with the situation. However, only 32 per cent of clinicians agreed.

In terms of receiving useful government guidance on how to deal with the pandemic, 54 per cent of staff said they had received such advice. However, 22 per cent claimed they did not think enough assistance was being received.

At least 31 people in the UK have now died from the H1N1 virus and health experts warn that as many as 100,000 new cases could be diagnosed every day from next month.