Human Pandemic Flu Guidance

North Yorkshire Information

NEW
The Health Protection Agency has now produced updated guidance for schools and early years setting which can be downloaded below. Please read the letter from Dr Simon Padfield, North Yorkshire & The Humber HPU in connection with this guidance.

If you require any further advice please contact the Director's Office on either 01609 532234 or 01609 532218 in the first instance.

Resources for Children

School children across England and Europe can now learn about protecting themselves from swine flu and other infections, following today's launch of an education programme and interactive website by the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

Details can be found at the following website:

http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1251473385219?p=1231252394302

Recording staff absences

In the unfortunate event of employees being absent from work as a result of contracting swine flu, we need to have a consistent approach in recording the swine flu sickness on the OLAM/Resourcelink. Any swine flu absences should be recorded under the category of ‘infections’. This is recommended by the Local Government Employers (LGE) and occupational health.

For more information contact janette.law@northyorks.gov.uk or phone Janette on (01609) 532277.

General Information for North Yorkshire Schools

Headteachers should check this page on a regular basis for the latest information.

Should it be necessary to communicate urgent information or instructions to schools, we will use the following methods:

1 – urgent Red Bag email to all schools

2 – a telephone cascade system – JDP Heads in each of the Clusters are to be used as a conduit to circulate information across all schools (Primary, Secondary and Special) within their cluster area. The emergency school closure password will be used to verify that the information is from the Local Authority.

Information will also be displayed on this webpage.

Should you have any further queries please contact the Director’s Office (01609 532234 or 532218) in the first instance.

North Yorkshire schools may find the following links useful, particularly in putting together emergency plans. All Headteachers are recommended to read the Planning Guidance on TeacherNet (see link below):

DCSF Advice and Guidance:

Latest update: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/educationoverview/briefing/flupandemic/

Planning Guidance for Human Pandemic Influenza:
http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/emergencies/planning/flupandemic/

Sources of Information

North Yorkshire and York PCT - www.nyypct.nhs.uk

Get the latest information on swine flu and pandemic flu from the Health Protection Agency - www.hpa.org.uk

Information from the NHS Choices regarding Swine Flu - www.nhs.uk

Check your symptoms - Department of Health - www.dh.gov.uk

Travel Advice from Foreign and Commonwealth Office - www.fco.gov.uk

North Yorkshire's Multi-agency Pandemic Influenza Contingency Plan/North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum - www.nysp.org.uk

DCSF Update 26 August 2009

Message from the Secretary of State, Ed Balls
We have been closely monitoring the spread and severity of swine flu over the school holidays. The latest scientific advice to the Government is that individual school closures are now of limited benefit in stopping the spread of disease.

Given the mildness of the virus, the expert medical advice is that there is no good reason for schools to remain closed after the summer holiday. We therefore expect all schools and early-years and childcare settings in England to reopen as planned at the beginning of the new term.

However, it is still essential that adults or children with flu-like symptoms should stay away until they are free of those symptoms. They should contact the National Pandemic Flu Service on 0800 1513 100 or at www.direct.gov.uk/pandemicflu.

We have published revised questions and answers guidance and emailed schools and local authorities alerting them to this guidance.

Resources to help promote good hand hygiene
We want to encourage everyone to continue to follow the basic hygiene practices that can help to prevent flu from spreading, and schools have an important role to play in promoting these with children. NHS resources are available on TeacherNet. They include posters, a comic strip and nursery rhymes to appeal to a range of ages.

For more information and updated FAQ from DCSF about swine flu, see the Teachernet website at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/educationoverview/flupandemic/