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 AEO with regard to Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR).

The Accountable Emergency Officer (AEO) for HUC is our CEO. 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. The new Governance Manager has taken on responsibility for ensuring co-ordination of Emergency Planning activity and the organisation was able to demonstrate full compliance against NHS England’s EPRR core standards, due in part to the improvements made more broadly across the governance agenda.

HUC 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 2022/2023, HUC plans to continue review its critical incident and business continuity management systems to ensure alignment with current best practice guidelines.