Report of the Swine Flu Critical Care Clinical Group and Key Learning Points for Future Surge Planning

The Critical care report builds on the work undertaken during the 2009/10 swine flu pandemic to increase critical care capacity. The report incorporates key learning points for future surge planning. The most important is the recommended work for critical care networks, which must be robust and well prepared as the essential foundation for any response for surge in demand. Following the discovery of a novel version of the H1N1 virus in April 2009 the first cases started appearing in the United Kingdom shortly after. During June and July 2009 there were peaks of activity during what was considered to be the first wave of the pandemic of H1N1 (2009). During this time critical care services came under particular pressure. In September 2009, the Department of Health set out a national H1N1 critical care strategy that confirmed that SHAs had plans in place to surge capacity. This followed agreement by the four UK health ministers that NHS bodies should plan on this basis. At the same time, the DH established a Swine Flu Critical Care Clinical Group to provide advice to the DH and the NHS on the practical issues around surging and sustaining critical care capacity during the anticipated second wave of the pandemic during October, November and December. The Clinical Group was impressed with the planning done at regional and local level to enable surge to happen. It continued to play the role of “a critical friend” to encourage these plans to be strengthened further. In addition, it was essential that the principles around command and control, stopping elective activity, providing mutual aid were agreed and shared between clinicians and managers in all organisations. The group has identified seven key learning points that it hopes will now be taken forward by the UK health departments, professional societies, regulators, regional bodies in England and most importantly by critical care networks and their component organisations