Planning for the Swine Flu pandemic was the key subject at the EPS annual conference in Coventry last June. Just after the WHO declared a global pandemic, speakers including; Bruce Mann (Cabinet Office), Pat O’Riordan (Specialist in Emergency Management, Health Service Executive, Republic of Ireland) and Jonathan Van-Tam (Professor Of Health Protection, University Of Nottingham and Honorary Consultant Regional Epidemiologist For HPA East Midlands) all spoke of the impending threat of mass absence at work due to sickness and caring responsibilities. (more…)