Swine flu suspects 'left in A&E'

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A couple returning from Mexico who feared they had contagious swine flu have told how they were twice made to wait in public places to be treated.

Richard Cook, from Warwickshire, said an NHS Direct telephone operator told him and his wife Sam to go to hospital.

He said they were left in a crowded hospital waiting room to be seen by medics and then had to collect their antiviral drugs from a busy pharmacy.

NHS Direct and NHS Warwickshire Primary Care Trust said they would investigate.

'Stay home'

Mr Cook, of Nuneaton, said because of the contagious nature of the virus he was "surprised" to be told by the NHS Direct nurse to go to A&E.

Official UK guidance for people who suspect they may have the virus is to stay at home and seek medical advice by telephone in the first instance to help minimise the risk of spreading the infection.

Mr Cook and his wife had come back from Mexico on Tuesday feeling unwell.

After speaking to NHS Direct they drove straight to the nearby George Eliot Hospital in College Street, Nuneaton.

'Serious situation'

When they arrived Mr Cook said they were told to take a seat in the public waiting room, where they waited with other patients "for about ten minutes" before being led off into an isolation room by medical staff wearing protective masks.

Mr Cook said: "Maybe it's so far gone now they don't care where you're going, or it was just a mishap."

He said the NHS Direct nurse told him she could not get hold of anyone from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) for advice on swine flu because it was out of hours, which is why she advised them to go to hospital.

Test results

The hospital staff told Mr Cook they would proscribe an antiviral drug called Tamiflu as he had a temperature of 38.1C and his wife had a temperature of 38.2C.

But Tamiflu supplies had run out in Nuneaton. Mr Cook said the hospital told them to drive to a chemist in Coventry to buy some, but they were only able to purchase one dose, when they needed two.

Mr Cook said he was asked by the chemist to return the next day for the second dose and "must have come into contact with three or four people in the chemist".

The Cooks are awaiting test results due either on Thursday or Friday to see if they have contracted swine flu.