Business Continuity and Emergency Planning

NHS organisations must ensure that they have a Major Incident Plan and Business Continuity Plan that complies with the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) and associated NHS Guidance. NHS England also expects all NHS funded organisations to have an Accountable Emergency Officer (AEO) with regard to Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR).

The Accountable Emergency Officer (AEO) for HUC is our Chief Executive Officer, David Archer. The AEO has executive authority and responsibility for ensuring that the organisation complies with legal and policy requirements. They will provide assurance to the Board that strategies, systems, training, policies and procedures are in place to ensure an appropriate response for their organisation in the event of an incident.

In 2021, the AEO came to be supported by the newly created role of Governance Manager and more recently the post of Head of Assurance. The Head of Assurance works alongside Heads of Service to ensure the co-ordination of Emergency Planning activity. Over the past two years the organisation has been able to demonstrate significant compliance against NHS England’s EPRR core standards with substantial progress being noted by our commissioners. There have been multiple improvements made across Emergency Planning and Business Continuity processes including the creation of new contingency packs, new training sessions and specific organisational emergency plans for different types of adverse events or scenarios.

HUC also works closely with its partners in supporting its local/regional Strategic Co-ordination Groups (SCG) and Local Health Resilience Forums. It also participates in national, regional and local critical and business continuity exercises to ensure that its policies and procedures are robust and effective.

During 2024/25, HUC will continue review its critical incident and business continuity management systems to ensure alignment with current best practice guidelines.