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a top NHS The executive has urged people with cold or flu symptoms to wear masks in public as the health sector prepares to “tidal wave” of this disease winter,
Daniel Elkels, chief executive of NHS Providers, has said anyone coughing or sneezing should wear a mask, including in the office or on transport, as he warned that “Bad” Flu Strain This year it happened earlier than usual.
Speaking to Times Radio the NHS leader also took aim Resident doctors will go on strike next weekWhich they say will harm patients at a time when the NHS is under extra pressure.
He said: “When you were talking about anything covidI think we need to get back to the habit that if you are coughing and sneezing, but you are not too unwell to go to work, then you should wear a mask when you are in public, including on public transport, to prevent the possibility of you passing the virus on to someone else.
“And we were all very good about infection control during COVID. And we really, really need to get back to that now.”
Mr Elkels said the peak of flu this winter could be worse than in previous years, with children still in school combined with hot and wet weather creating ideal conditions for the spread of flu.
“We probably need to have a bigger debate after this flu season about how we better prepare the public for what happens every year,” he said.
NHS leader also urged them They are eligible to get their flu jabHospital admissions for flu in England are at record levels for this time of year,
Health officials have warned that the new H3N2 strain, dubbed super flu, could bring a “tidal wave” of illness before Christmas.
Mr Elkels said doctors going on strike was a major challenge for the health service, and agreed with the concerns of “really, really senior doctors” at the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges that a strike next week could harm patients.
He said: “It is not too late for resident doctors and the government to find enough common ground in their negotiations to say ‘We are determined to resolve this dispute, but the thing that is really going to harm the NHS and harm patients is the strike next week.'”
Sir Jim Mackay, chief executive of NHS England, described the decision by doctors to strike as “something that seems cruel” and “planned to cause havoc at a time when the service is really making every effort to avoid this and keep people safe”.