Phase 6 - swine flu supplementary HR advice

On 11 June, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced a move to phase 6, a declaration of a pandemic. This advice note sets out the implications of this move for local authorities and their HR policies.

The move to phase 6 by WHO is as a result of the geographic spread of the virus rather than its severity. WHO considers the overall severity of the pandemic to be moderate and the declaration of WHO phase 6 does not change the UK’s overall assessment that to date the virus is generally mild in most people, but proving more severe in a small number of cases.  More specifically, this assessment reflects that:

• Most people recover from infection without the need for hospitalisation or medical care.
• Overall, national levels of clinically severe or fatal cases appear similar to levels seen during local seasonal influenza periods - although in some local areas and institutions, high levels of disease have occurred.
• Overall, hospitals and health care systems in most countries generally have been able to cope with the numbers of people seeking care - although in some localities, some facilities and systems have been stretched.

The UK has been operating on the assumption of a pandemic occurring for some time and the declaration of phase 6 by the WHO does not therefore trigger any material change to our public health response.  The UK Government continues to make robust preparations based on prudent planning assumptions as it is still too early to accurately predict the impact of the pandemic on the UK.

What is the definition of WHO phase 6?

The technical definition of phase 6 is human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one World Health Organisation region, with community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region. Because the virus has been spreading for some time in North America, the decision that ‘community level outbreaks’ were occurring in other regions means that the criteria for phase 6 have been fulfilled.

Implications for authorities and HR policies

Authorities should continue to make preparations for disruption to their business and ensure that their response is commensurate to the situation. Currently there is no requirement to make any significant adjustments to the way authorities are responding to the situation following the declaration of phase 6. The paper prepared in May which sets out options for how human resource professionals may manage concerns, remains valid and provides authorities with a set of considerations to assist in making preparations should the situation worsen. In particular, authorities employing large numbers of people, with flexibility of staff redeployment, should continue to ensure that their arrangements are capable of handling cumulative staff absence rates at the percentage rate set out in their existing pandemic, business continuity and crisis management plans. 

Authorities should continue to keep staff up to date on the current situation and continue to promote good personal hygiene and remind individuals to stay away from work if they are unwell.  Additional material is provided at Annex A, which contains a ‘core script’ for internal advice to staff in response to the declaration of WHO phase 6.

Annex A

Model ‘core script’ advice to staff

(The following can be used as the ‘core script’ for internal advice to issue to staff)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced a move to pandemic phase 6, declaration of a pandemic.

• WHO’s decision to declare a pandemic is based on what is happening globally as a result of the geographic spread of the virus, rather than its severity, and does not suggest a sudden shift in the UK situation.
• The UK government is well prepared to manage a pandemic – the UK is said to be one of the best prepared countries in the world.
• WHO considers the overall severity of the pandemic to be moderate.  This means that most people recover from infection without the need for hospitalisation or medical care, levels of clinically severe or fatal cases appear similar to levels seen with seasonal influenza, and hospitals and health care systems in most countries have been able to cope with the numbers of people seeking care.
• The declaration of WHO phase 6 does not change the UK’s overall assessment that so far the virus is generally mild in most people, but proving more severe in a small number of cases.
• The UK has been operating on the assumption of a pandemic occurring for some time and the declaration of phase 6 by the WHO does not therefore trigger any material change to our public health response.
• The UK Government continues to make robust preparations based on prudent planning assumptions as it is still too early to accurately predict the impact of the pandemic in the UK.