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Emergency planning

NHS Wiltshire recognises that planning for major incidents is an integral part of good business practice for any organisation. It is particularly important that NHS Wiltshire can continue to deliver its essential functions and that they are able to respond to the needs of the community in emergency situations.

Legislation

In 2004 the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) established a single framework for emergency planning and response in the UK, ensuring co-ordinated and organised response across all relevant agencies (termed Category 1 and Category 2 responders).

As a Category 1 Responder, the CCA 2004 placed a number of ‘statutory obligations’ on Primary Care Trusts to risk assess, plan and train for a major incident situation, along with an obligation to work in close liaison with other Category 1 and 2 Responders producing a unified emergency response.

Planning

For any NHS organisation, a Major Incident is defined as:

“Any occurrence which presents a serious threat to the health of the community, disruption of the routine service, or causes (or is likely to cause) such numbers or types of casualties as to require special arrangements by hospitals, the ambulance service or primary care trusts.”

A major incident affecting NHS Wiltshire could happen at any time with little or no warning. During such an incident NHS Wiltshire, as part of the NHS, must continue to fulfil its duty to protect and promote the health of the public, and co-ordinate a local health community response. The procedures for how NHS Wiltshire will respond to a major incident are outlined in the Strategic Major Incident Plan.

Fundamental to the success of NHS Wiltshire’s plans is the integration of procedures with the emergency services, local acute trusts, neighbouring PCTs, local authorities and the many other statutory and voluntary agencies that will participate in any major incident response.

This coordination is achieved through the work of the Wiltshire and Swindon Local Resilience Forum (LRF)

The LRF is a multi-agency partnership made up of representatives from Category 1 Responders such as the Ambulance Service, Police and the Fire and Rescue Service. Also engaged in LRF work are Category 2 responders, such as the Highways Agency and the public utility companies. The LRF also works in conjunction with wider partners such as the Military and the Voluntary Sector who provide a valuable contribution to LRF work in emergency preparedness.

For more information on the Wiltshire and Swindon Local Resilience Forum go to www.wiltshireandswindonprepared.org.uk

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