As the cold weather tightens its grip over the region, the daily calls to the NHS, a health related helpline have reached a ‘breaking point’ with 50% rise in the past few days.

The reports of the media confirm that the outbreak of the flu infections double this week. The worst part is that NHS is finding it difficult to cope up with the pressure with some patients claiming that they were made to wait for two days to talk with a nurse. The intensity of the pressure on NHS can be estimated by the fact that the helpline was stormed by 46000 calls last weekend making it 960 calls per hour.

On one hand where a senior nurse termed the condition at NHS ‘appalling’, on the other hand a spokeswoman from the department of health claims that the service of NHS is ‘very well’ in the tough times, adding that the helpline service is well prepared.

The statistics released by the Department of Health confirmed that 302 patients were currently in intensive care. With confirmed 17 deaths, swine flu still remains that deadliest of all.

With a promise to increase the number of staff at work, the spokeswoman, department of health, said "Prevention is better than cure - it's very important that people who are at risk have their free seasonal flu vaccination. All pregnant women should have the flu jab - at any stage of pregnancy.”