The national swine flu phoneline, a central call centre that allows thousands of people to receive infection diagnoses simultaneously, is to be set up by the Government within days.

The flu line, the backbone of the National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS), is to be activated after a further dramatic rise in infection cases, to be announced by the Department of Health today. The NPFS will allow flu diagnoses to be processed quickly, with unique reference numbers given to callers with suspected swine flu to allow their friends or relatives to collect medication for them.

The Times understands that the decision to set up the flu line was taken after it was discussed at a meeting of Cobra, the Government’s emergency committee, yesterday morning.

Data from a sample of GPs’ surgeries, seen by The Times, showed that up to 40,000 people in England and Wales complained to their doctor last week of flu-like illness, with a huge rise in the number of young children being affected.

The recent surge in cases, particularly in hotspots such as the West Midlands and London, prompted Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, to announce the beginning of the “treatment phase” for the illness this month. Questions were raised about why the flu line was not launched immediately, as it is intended to take the pressure off GPs and hospitals.

The service, which is designed to involve a call centre manned by 7,000 volunteers who identify swine flu symptoms and allocate code numbers so that Tamiflu can be picked up from collection points around the country, is now expected to start within days. When fully functioning, the system is designed to involve high-speed call management, a maximum of eight minutes per call, with suspect cases. People who call the line then nominate a “flu friend” to go to one of up to 500 collection points, take the medication back to the affected person’s home and post it through their door.

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