Syndromic surveillance summary: 11 May 2023 week 18
Updated 4 January 2024
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Reporting week 18: 1 May to 7 May 2023
During week 18 there were increases in total activity observed in certain syndromic surveillance systems in line with expected changes in health care access over the extended public holiday weekend. There were increases observed in asthma GP in-hours consultations and emergency department (ED) attendances for asthma, particularly in children aged 0 to 4 and 5 to 14 years.
Remote health advice syndromic surveillance system
Total NHS 111 calls and online assessments increased over the public holiday weekend during week 18, in line with expected activity (trends presented in this report should therefore be interpreted with some caution). There were small increases observed in NHS 111 calls and online assessments for diarrhoea during week 18.
Access the remote health advice syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK
GP in hours syndromic surveillance system
During week 18, there was a small increase in ‘pharyngitis or scarlet fever’ GP in-hours consultations; however, rates are in line with seasonally expected levels. Asthma consultations increased in children aged 5 to 14 while diarrhoea increased nationally and in adults aged 15 to 44 years.
Access the GP in hours syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK
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.
Access the GP out-of-hours syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK
Emergency department syndromic surveillance system
ED attendances for asthma continued to increase during week 18, particularly in children aged 1 to 4 and 5 to 14 years. Other respiratory indicators are currently at seasonally expected levels except pneumonia, which was stable during week 18 but remains above seasonally expected levels.
Access the emergency department syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK
Ambulance syndromic surveillance system
During week 18, daily ambulance calls for ‘difficulty breathing’ and ‘chest pain’ continued to increase and are currently above baseline. ‘Overdose or ingestion or poisoning’ calls also increased and are above seasonally expected levels following increases observed over the recent 2 public holiday weekends during May.
Access the ambulance syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK