Well it seems the rush is finally over!

 

Volunteer swine flu deliveries ceased last Tuesday, with thirty six individual pick ups between Friday 24th July and Tuesday 4th August, resulting in one hundred and four individual deliveries.

 

Well done to everybody involved, we have certainly put the name of Hertfordshire 4x4 Response on the map, both in the County and across the region. This is especially important as it showed other Primary Care Trusts just what a well organised and dedicated group of volunteers can do.

 

Obviously I have heard comments about providing courier services "on the cheap" but a quick analysis of figures showed that on many days our mileage claims exceeded what the new courier contact is costing in Hertfordshire.

 

Indeed I have heard that a couple of PCTs in the region have used the British Red Cross, who asked for a "donation" of £10,000 up front and then charged £50 per delivery!

 

I suppose that is the result of using a charity that also has a track record of charging for it's services.

 

Well things are looking like they are settling down now with the numbers of swine flu cases in sharp decline. Biggest problem now is planning for mass vaccination in the Autumn and second guessing what the pandemic might do in the anticipated second wave.

 

Cheers

 

Tony