NHS uses weather forecasts to plan

The National Health Service is using weather forecasts in a bid to predict its workload.

Health chiefs have used data from the Meteorological Office, along with projections of respiratory illness rates, to successfully predict winter chills and run wards more efficiently.

A wide range of illnesses, from flu to fractures, are more common during cold spells, making the weather a useful barometer of health.

Under the pilot scheme, weather experts provide forecasts for post code areas as regional weather patterns affect demand on hospitals.

It is hoped the initiative will improve efficiency, as it could allow hospitals to bookin extra patients when forecasts suggest the workload will be lower than normal. It may enable health workers to clear extra beds in preparation for flu outbreaks, which tend to rise about 12 days after a cold spell.

Dr William Bird, Medical Consultant at the Met Office, said his predictions have already cut waiting lists at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, where the scheme has saved £400,000. The hospital used his predictions to cancel a decision to send 150 waiting list patients to the private sector.

Dr Bird predicts that personal forecasts may also help in the future. "If people have symptoms they think are affected by the weather they will be able to go on to an automated template and the team will analyse them. We will match people's symptoms to certain groups of conditions and try to provide a general forecast."

The Met Office says the scheme could go national next winter.