Friends of Shropshire schoolgirl Charlotte Hartey, who died after her tonsillitis was diagnosed as swine flu, have launched a wristband campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of over-the-phone medical diagnosis.The wristbands will be available to buy from various businesses and shops throughout Oswestry as part of a campaign by the 16-year-old’s family to halt phone diagnosis.

Charlotte, of Quinta, Weston Rhyn, near Oswestry, died at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on July 31. She had been diagnosed over the phone by a GP as having swine flu and was prescribed Tamiflu.

But her condition worsened and she died at the hospital. Doctors told her family she in fact had tonsillitis, not swine flu.

Since her death a Facebook petition and campaign, as well as a charitable foundation, have been launched by her family who are calling on the Government to scrap over-the-phone diagnosis.

The wristband initiative is the latest chapter in the campaign and is being put together by Charlotte’s friend Joe Jones, who read a poem he had written in Charlotte’s memory at the popular Oswestry School pupil’s funeral.

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