NHS to run seven ‘tests’ to prepare for emergencies

The national plan to prepare for emergencies, which covers until 2030, was revealed in a NHSE letter to trust and system leads this week.

Organisations will be expected to run exercises to test responses to seven different types of events – including cyber incidents and pandemics.

NHSE lead on emergency preparedness, resilience and response Stephen Groves said in the letter: “We are committed to driving this programme forward but also recognise further work is needed to strengthen collective resilience.”

Efforts to prepare the health sector for emergencies have been in the spotlight during the first module of the covid inquiry.

This has included Exercise Cygnus in 2016 which simulated a flu outbreak and identified shortcomings in UK plans to cope with a severe pandemic.

In his letter, Mr Groves said NHS organisations will be set the one of the following themes to exercise each year:

• Casualty and mass casualty
• Hazardous materials and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear
• Business continuity
• Cyber and digital
• Infections disease and pandemics
• Adverse weather
• Security, shelter and evacuation

Mr Groves said the new programme would start in October, and would create a “more holistic learning environment” through systematic testing.

He said further details on expectations and rotas for exercises would be shared shortly.

HSJ amended the story after NHSE clarified the wording of the letter meant one test would be allocated a year.