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Fans' fears over flu centre at ground
BLACKPOOL FC has been drafted in to help in the fight against swine flu.
Half of the ticket office at the club's Bloomfield Road stadium has been converted into an emergency collection point for anti-viral drug Tamiflu.
Shocked fans buying tickets directly next to where drugs were being given out said they were worried they could be more at risk of infection.
But NHS Blackpool, which is coordinating the fight against the spread of the virus and has offices at the stadium, said location was convenient for patients and helped take the pressure off GP clinics.
Lifelong Blackpool fan and season ticket holder Paul Godwin, 26, said: "I was shocked when I saw it.
"Hundreds of fans will be going to those windows to buy tickets and could be being put at risk.
"I would question why they are needing to do it. What's the walk-in centre in town for, or the one on Whitegate Drive?
"Surely the NHS have plenty of facilities they could use without it being in a place where a large number of people will be gathering at the same time.
"Will the Travelodge across the road be used as a hospital ward next?"
Eric Heyworth, 58, from Bispham, added: "I've come here to pick up a prescription for my nephew who has suspected swine flu and must admit I was quite surprised when he told me I had to come to the football club.
"It seems a bit of an odd choice to me to have people picking up a prescription as they pick up their match tickets.
"I would have expected to have to go to some kind of medical centre rather than be here mingling with football fans."
Another customer in the club shop, who declined to be named, said: "It just seems a really weird place to have all these sick people going to.
"Even if it's not people who are sick themselves, it's certainly people who have been in contact with people who are infected.
"Why not have it at the hospital where they are used to dealing with that sort of thing?"
Another fan, who did not wish to be named, added: "I suppose a football club does seem an unusual choice as a collection point, but then they have to use somewhere to dispense the drugs.
"The area is easy to get to, there is parking nearby and it is an area lots of people use so I suppose it makes sense."
Health bosses today told The Gazette the club had been chosen because it was an ideal location for drugs collection.
A spokesman for NHS Blackpool said: "The football club was chosen as an anti-viral collection point because it is a well known and central venue with good access.
"This means other NHS locations – such as the Walk-in Centre and GP surgeries – can continue operating a normal service, caring for the
residents of Blackpool."
Dr Arif Rajpura, director of public health for NHS Blackpool, was keen to stress the club was being used as a drugs collection point only, and no doctors were on site to diagnose symptoms. He said: "The ticket office at the football stadium is a collection point not a treatment centre.
"People attending should not have swine flu. They are 'Flu Friends', collecting a prescription on behalf of somebody else.
"Fans collecting tickets from the Stadium are at no greater risk of catching swine flu than in any other public place."
Officials at the club declined to comment, although Bloomfield Road is not first sporting venue to be used as a collection point for anti-viral drugs.
Meanwhile, despite fears of a shortage of Tamiflu nationally, NHS Blackpool confirmed supplies were plentiful on the Fylde coast.
Anyone who thinks they could be suffering from swine flu is advised to call NHS Direct on 0845 4647
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Weather for Blackpool
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
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