The National Flu Pandemic Service
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Unless you've been living a solitary existence in a warm and cosy cave you'll no doubt have spotted the minor matter of a swine flu pandemic sweeping the world. And if you're in the UK, you'll also have heard about the National Flu Pandemic Service. You'll also probably have heard about how, immediately after launch, the website component of this service crashed and was taken offline for several hours due to "unprecedented demand". You'll have seen the comments from the UK Government about how well the service has worked, and from the Conservative party opposition about how bad and slow the response was. All very interesting.
However this post on Zero Flaws is to tell you one thing, and one thing only. The National Flu Pandemic service (website and call centre) wasn't suddenly created and put into action this year when swine flu began to rear its head. The massive demand for the service, previously known as FluLine, also wasn't unprecedented. The service was discussed and designed way back in 2008 after the H5N1 Avian Flu outbreak, and back then the speed of response and anticipated volume of demand was known, discussed, and represented a huge concern to all involved - both to the Government, and to the companies they asked to tender for the contract to provide the service.
So keep that in mind when you hear reports of how well - or how badly - the service is operating. And that, I'm afraid, is all I can say on the matter.
Note: for interest, the company that eventually won the contract and is now responsible for providing the service is Clinical Solutions International Limited.
