NOW SWINE FLU PANIC SWEEPS BRITAIN

Paula Higson, chief operating officer for NHS Direct, said: “We are dealing with a significantly increased number of calls and longer length calls as we are assessing more than one person per call.

“We are giving priority to urgent calls so that people most in need are assessed as quickly as possible and urgent calls are being dealt with in less than 20 minutes.

“If a call back is required for a non-urgent call we will tell callers how long they have to wait.

“We are encouraging people to use other channels where possible to help take pressure off NHS Direct and GP surgeries.”

Despite warnings that the service was being overwhelmed, the Department of Health insisted people were following the correct advice by contacting NHS Direct.

A spokesman said: “This virus is still generally mild in the vast majority of people. However, it can be more severe in some cases and as with all flu-like viruses, some people are at higher risk than others.”

One company selling Tamiflu told the Daily Express it was selling 4,000 doses of the drug every working day and calls to its dedicated care line had soared in the past few days from three a day to about 45.

Healthcare Connections said that on May 1 alone it sold 55,000 doses, with many people fearing they might not be able to get the drug if and when they needed it.

Chief executive Alison Brown said: “We have seen an unprecedented level of interest from consumers over the past few weeks and have even set up a dedicated care line number for customers who want to talk to a member of our team.

“People are looking to protect themselves and their families and being able to get hold of the medication from us means that they can have peace of mind.”

One online private medical health clinic saw an increase in inquiries following the initial outbreak but a surge again in the past two days.

Manager Jo Kirby said they had been forced to limit its stock to a maximum of three packs per person.

She added: “We usually do not prescribe more than a couple of courses per week but in the last months there has been a large increase in requests for information and treatment. There are a lot of worried people out there.”

In April the Government ordered manufacturers to stop private sales of Tamiflu to conserve supplies amid fears of internet profiteering.

Nearly 10,000 Britons have been confirmed with swine flu but hundreds of thousands more are thought to have the virus.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham yesterday called for “perspective” following the death of six-year-old Chloe Buckley from West Drayton, Middlesex, and a patient in Basildon, Essex, who died from swine flu without underlying health problems. Their deaths have taken the UK death toll to 16.

Michael Day, 64, a Bedfordshire doctor whose death last week was linked to swine flu, was yesterday found to have died from natural causes.

Mr Burnham said: “People need to keep it in perspective. Lots of children have already had swine flu and have made a full recovery. We have to keep it in perspective.

“We have made very good plans and Britain is at the front of the queue in the world for vaccine. We could not be in a better position.

“As soon as stocks are made, the very first vaccines will come to this country. We expect to get the first next month.”