A MUM who was diagnosed with swine flu is calling for tougher checks after she was nearly prescribed the wrong dose of medication.

Yvonne Collman, 39, of Eastcote Grove, in Chingford, said she was diagnosed over the phone and given a password number for the anti-viral drugs from the NHS swine flu helpline.

But when her 'flu buddy' went to collect the medication from the pharmacy they said it was the dosage for a two-year-old.

The mum-of-three said: “I asked them whether it was health professionals taking the calls and they said no. But I feel like it should be health professionals who are taking these calls and I am very worried about it.

"What if it was a two-year-old given the dose of a 39-year-old?”

The NHS had to recruit people quickly to cope with the swine flu pandemic and applicants, many of whom were students, were required to have customer service experience but needed no background in healthcare.

Miss Collman, a bus driver, said she was fortunate not to be given the incorrect dose because the pharmacist checked and administered the correct dose after verifying that the patient was an adult.

But she is calling for healthcare professionals to be recruited to call centres to improve the service and is writing a letter of complaint.

She added: “It is about having the right people in those jobs. There are many retired nurses or those out of work who could do a better job.”

A spokesman for Waltham Forest Primary Care Trust also said that there are safeguards in place to ensure children do not receive the wrong dose.

He said: “In Waltham Forest we are only using community pharmacies to issue antivirals and every antiviral is checked.

“Where young children are concerned, we have additional safeguards in place to ensure that antivirals are checked twice to eliminate any potential confusion.”