Responding to the World Health Organisation's declaration of a global flu pandemic on 11 June, Mr Barnett said: "The confirmation of a level 6 global pandemic reinforces the need for the NHS to ensure all the flu plans already in place at local level are as comprehensive as possible and thoroughly tested. We need to avoid complacency in dealing with a virus that is an unknown and seems to be spreading quickly.
“Health service leaders meeting at the NHS Confederation conference in Liverpool on 11 June were briefed by the Department of Health on the scale of the challenge facing them and they understand they have a window of opportunity before winter, when the spread of H1N1 is expected to accelerate.
“The challenge facing all parts of the health service should not be underestimated and hospitals, PCTs and ambulance services will all need to use the next few weeks to ensure that they are prepared for a major flu outbreak.
“Everything needs to be in place, from the establishment of anti-viral collection points in the community to planning for larger numbers of hospitalised children to deal with a situation that few working in the service have ever experienced.
“The national infrastructure is well-established including the role of NHS Direct and the development of a vaccination programme, while HR guidance has been compiled by NHS Employers and DH to help organisations manage the impact of staff sickness while maintaining essential services.”