When to seek medical advice with a cold or flu
During the current cold snap, NHS Direct has reported a 206 per cent increase in the number of calls from people seeking medical advice about colds, flu, coughs and fever. *
It can be difficult to judge when cold and flu symptoms become serious enough to require urgent medical attention.
To help people to decide, NHS Direct has launched an online symptom checker to help sufferers look up ailments, such as a sore throat, cough, sinusitis and earache.
Anne Joshua, Associate Director of Pharmacy at NHS Direct, said: "The tool helps with self care and also helps to decide when professional advice is needed or if the condition is serious enough to seek urgent medical help."
In addition, NICE has released guidelines for respiratory tract infections, which detail how long symptoms should be expected to last. ** A cough for example would last three weeks, a sore throat: one week, sinusitis two and a half weeks and earache four days. A common cold is expected to remain for one and a half weeks.
Westfield Health recognises the need for people to access prompt and accurate medical advice when they are feeling under the weather and is believed to have been the first health cash plan provider to introduce a GP telephone consultation benefit.
Most Westfield health cash plans offer the GP consultation service to policyholders and their resident family members. The benefit provides telephone access to a qualified UK GP at a convenient time for the patient, and the helpline can be called from anywhere in the world.
Because GPs will take into account personal medical history, they will in many cases be able to provide a diagnosis of symptoms and recommend an appropriate course of action.
For more information about the Advantage Plan visit: http://www.westfieldhealth.com/my-westfield/advantage/index.asp
For more information about the Good4you Plan visit: http://www.westfieldhealth.com/my-westfield/good4you/index.asp
For more information about the Foresight Plan visit: http://www.westfieldhealth.com/my-westfield/foresight/index.asp
For more information about the Chamber Plan visit: http://www.westfieldhealth.com/my-westfield/chamber/index/asp
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