22 November 2006

State's health system well-placed to deal with major infectious disease outbreak

Minister for Health John Hatzistergos today welcomed the findings of an audit into NSW Health's capacity to respond to a major infectious disease outbreak such as pandemic influenza and SARS.

Mr Hatzistergos said the report by the NSW Audit office found that:

• "the public health system is well organised to respond to an emergency incident"
• "public health system roles and responsibilities in responding to an emergency incident have been clearly designated"
• "a clearly defined command and control structure is in place for health emergencies"
• "NSW Health needs to balance the cost of over-preparedness and additional capacity that may never be used, against the very significant consequences of under-preparation".

Mr Hatzistergos said that NSW Health has done much to prepare the public health system for a large-scale infectious disease emergency, but acknowledged the report's calls for continuation of good work to date and more detailed planning.

"The NSW Government has already committed $5.6 million under the Influenza Pandemic Action Plan, to accelerate our preparations for a potential influenza pandemic over the next three years.

"This report acknowledges that NSW Health's commitment to preparing the public health system for a major infectious disease outbreak is bearing fruit.

"While the report focuses on these large-scale diseases, it also looks at contingency plans for more 'usual' diseases such as measles, TB, Legionnaire's disease and salmonellosis."

Mr Hatzistergos said the audit acknowledged that a 'whole of government' approach existed for dealing with a pandemic.

"Influenza pandemics pose the greatest potential risk to public health because of their ability to rapidly spread within a population, the fact that the mortality rate is likely to be high and because the entire population would be at risk at the same time."

Mr Hatzistergos said the report contains a number of key recommendations aimed at improving the state's capacity to deal with a pandemic or epidemic.

"The NSW Government is committed to responding to these recommendations and ensuring our health system can respond to a large scale infectious disease emergency."

Recommendations include:

• Establishing a timeline to finalise all emergency and contingency plans
• Building on influenza pandemic plans to address the emergence of new infectious diseases
• Continuing to develop distinct plans within local health services areas to manage emergency staffing needs, isolation facilities, intensive care units, hospital beds and medical supplies
• Continuing to encourage and participate in national simulation exercises.

"The threat of a major epidemic or pandemic is real, but the timing and severity of it is totally unknown which is why eternal vigilance is imperative."

Mr Hatzistergos said that initial reports on the recent national simulation exercise, Exercise Cumpston '06, found that the state's planning for pandemic influenza is suitable and robust.

"NSW did very well in terms of a proactive response and our actions were well organised," he said.

"Our plans were supported by up-to-date standard operating protocols and good communications between different levels of government.

"We also have a well-understood plan for screening and isolating potentially infected persons at all public hospitals and clear communication mechanisms for operational decisions made at the strategic level during an influenza pandemic."

For a range of health information, go online to www.health.nsw.gov.au