Swine flu - the London response

The London Assembly's Health and Public Services Committee's report looks at the scale of the swine flu pandemic in London and considers the effectiveness of the response.

Swine flu caused 85 deaths and affected more than 120,000 people in London, with one in every 50 Londoners receiving a course of antiviral medication.

It says while London’s health organisations were generally effective in handling swine flu during 2009/10, a number of issues must be tackled to improve the way future pandemics are dealt with.

The committee has drawn up a list of essential questions to be followed up with NHS London to feed into their work to improve the response to future waves of the H1N1 virus or other pandemics. The questions include:

• How is the NHS in London planning for the full range of possible scenarios for future pandemics?

• How can communication and support for vulnerable Londoners be improved?

• How are locations of antiviral collection points being reviewed?

The Department of Health's response to our report is also available to view.