Research and analysis

Syndromic surveillance summary: 1 September 2022 week 34

Updated 5 January 2023

Reporting week: 21 August to 28 August 2022

During week 34, national syndromic indicators for ‘impact of heat’ decreased as temperatures returned to seasonally expected levels.

Remote health advice syndromic surveillance system

Please note that during week 34 the number of NHS 111 calls included in this syndromic report are still lower than usual, though have increased. This is due to a widely publicised cybersecurity incident on 4 August caused by ransomware that affected a NHS 111 clinical software system provider that is used in certain parts of the country. We are working closely with our data providers to restore the daily syndromic feeds.

The NHS 111 call data presented in this report should therefore be interpreted with some caution. Assessments of trends and levels for NHS 111 calls have not been included in this bulletin. During week 34, potential coronavirus (COVID-19)-like NHS 111 online assessments continued to decrease.

GP in hours syndromic surveillance system

During week 34, GP in-hours consultations for ‘heat or sunstroke’ decreased as temperatures returned to seasonally expected levels. GP in-hours ‘COVID-19-like’ consultations were stable but there was a slight increase in consultations for diarrhoea.

GP out of hours syndromic surveillance system

Daily GP out-of-hours contact data from 4 August 2022 onwards has not been received due to a widely publicised disruption faced by one of the GP out-of-hours clinical software system providers. We have since been informed that this disruption was as a result of a cybersecurity incident caused by ransomware. We are working closely with our data provider to restore the daily syndromic feed.

Emergency department syndromic surveillance system

During week 34, COVID-19-like emergency department attendances continued to decrease.

Ambulance syndromic surveillance system

During week 34 ‘COVID-19-like’ ambulance calls remained stable, while calls for difficulty breathing decreased.