Syndromic surveillance summary: 23 March 2023 week 11
Updated 4 January 2024
© Crown copyright 2024
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syndromic-surveillance-weekly-summaries-for-2023/syndromic-surveillance-summary-23-march-2023-week-11
Reporting week 11: 13 March to 19 March 2023
Coronavirus (COVID-19)-like emergency department (ED) attendances continued to increase during week 11, particularly in adults aged 65 years and over. Syndromic indicators of influenza-like illness either decreased or remained stable. Across NHS 111 and GP in-hours syndromic surveillance systems, there were small increases reported in selected diarrhoea and vomiting indicators.
Remote health advice syndromic surveillance system
During week 11, NHS 111 calls for ‘cold or flu’ remained stable nationally, however there was an increase in calls in the group of those aged 65 years and over. NHS 111 calls and online assessments for ‘potential COVID-19’ remained stable. There were further small increases observed in NHS 111 online assessments for diarrhoea and calls for vomiting during week 11.
Access the remote health advice syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK
GP in-hours syndromic surveillance system
During week 11, indicators of acute respiratory conditions including influenza-like illness and ‘COVID-19-like’ remained stable or decreased. There was a continuing small increase in consultation rates for scarlet fever; however, levels remain below seasonally expected levels. Consultation rates for gastroenteritis and diarrhoea increased slightly during week 11. There were increases noted in the group of those aged 65 years and over for both diarrhoea and vomiting consultations.
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
‘COVID-19-like’ ED attendances continued to increase nationally during week 11, particularly in the North West, East Midlands, West Midlands and South West regions. Increases were seen in adults aged 15 years and over but particularly in those aged 65 years and over. There was a small increase also observed in acute respiratory infection attendances, across all age groups. ED attendances for scarlet fever were stable during week 11 but remained above seasonally expected levels.
Access the emergency department syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK
Ambulance syndromic surveillance system
Ambulance calls for ‘difficulty breathing’ and ‘chest pain’ increased slightly during week 11. The number of daily ambulance calls for ‘headache’ and ‘unconscious or passing out’ continued to increase.
Access the ambulance syndromic surveillance bulletins on GOV.UK