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Is Telephone Diagnosis of Swine Flu a Good Idea?

Death of Girl Through Misdiagnosis of H1N1 Flu Raises Questions.

Sep 13, 2009 Helen Krasner

In the UK, people with flu symptoms call a telephone service for diagnosis, to prevent infection. But this resulted in a recent mistake, and the death of a young girl.

In the UK, fears of a swine flu pandemic caused the setting up of call centres, which people would phone if they had flu symptoms. But the recent death of 16 year old Charlotte Hartey, misdiagnosed with swine flu when she actually had tonsillitis, calls the whole system into question.

How Does Telephone Diagnosis Work?

In mid-2009, with the threat of a swine flu epidemic, the UK government set up swine flu call centres. The idea was that anyone with suspected flu symptoms would call the centre and be given a diagnosis over the phone. If they had swine flu, the person would be sent a prescription for Tamiflu, which could be taken by relatives or friends to the nearest pharmacy.

The idea of telephone diagnosis was that there would be less pressure on doctors’ surgeries. Also, it would prevent spread of the infection, and swine flu victims were told to stay at home. It seemed in theory like an ideal way of dealing with a possible widespread flu epidemic.

The Case of Charlotte Hartey

In July 2009, 16 year old Charlotte Hartey, from Shropshire, UK, was diagnosed over the phone as suffering from swine flu, and prescribed Tamiflu. However, Charlotte’s condition worsened. She was eventually taken to hospital, where it was eventually discovered that she was suffering from tonsillitis, with complications which might have been prevented with earlier diagnosis. On 31st July, Charlotte died.

Family Start Petition Against Telephone Diagnosis

The Hartey family were convinced that if Charlotte had been correctly diagnosed earlier, she would still be alive. As The Daily Telegraph reported on 16th August 2009, they have “started a petition against ‘call centre health care’”. According to reports, some of these call centres are staffed by teenagers with no medical training, and mistakes are being made. Charlotte’s father, Karl Hartey, said: “I stumbled across other cases. Other children have died of meningitis or tonsillitis, due to them being diagnosed over the phone with swine flu. If Charlotte had received correct doctoring, I believe that our daughter would be with us today”.

There has been a huge response to the telephone petition, and it seems as though the telephone diagnosis idea may well have to be re-thought. Newspapers in other countries have picked up on the story, questioning the whole concept of the UK National Health Service if this is the result.

The NHS has always been well thought of throughout the world. It would be a pity if this were to change as a result of a diagnostic idea which seems to be turning out to be a tragic mistake.

BNC101

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