The NHS needs to be able to assess, plan for, respond to and recover from a wide range of emergencies and incidents that could impact on the health of the population or affect patients receiving care. This has a large range and could be anything from prolonged period of severe bed pressures, extreme weather conditions (heatwave, cold weather), an outbreak of an infectious disease (Flu, COVID-19, Measles etc), cyber-attacks, Terrorism, industrial action or a major transport accident. The Civil Contingencies Act (2004) requires NHS organisations, and providers of NHS-funded services, to demonstrate they that they can effectively deal with such incidents while maintaining services.

Within the Health sector, this programme of work is referred to as Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR).

If you would like more information or have any general queries, please email epo@nelft.nhs.uk