Emergency planning and business continuity frequently asked questions
What is emergency planning?
Emergencies and unexpected incidents can strike anywhere and suddenly. Emergency planning is how the Trust prepares to deal with these emergencies and incidents to maintain services and protect staff in the event of an incident.
The aim of emergency planning is to maintain appropriate arrangements and procedures so the Trust can respond to and manage major incidents. The primary legislation that underpins our work is the Civil Contingency Act 2004 (CCA).
What is the Civil Contingencies Act 2004?
The CCA delivers a single framework for civil protection in the United Kingdom. The Act is separated into two parts: local arrangements for civil protection and emergency powers. Under the CCA, Cheshire & Wirral Partnership Trust (CWP) is a category 2 responder: with category 1 responsibilities through our physical health services.
What is business continuity?
Business continuity management system can anticipate things that are may go wrong and takes planned and rehearsed steps to protect the service activity. CWP has policies, plans and procedures in place to support staff to maintain essential services when threatened with unforeseen, local incidents.
What does business continuity mean for CWP and my team?
CWP has a strategic business continuity plan and business continuity policy and procedures that work together to support an effective business continuity management system. Each team is required to have a business continuity plan. These plans are tested and exercised throughout the year to ensure that they will work in the event of a real emergency. In the event of a business continuity incident you may be asked to work from a different location; be flexible with your working hours and may temporarily take on new responsibilities until things are back to normal.
Why do we have to have business continuity plans?
All NHS-funded organisations must meet the requirements of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, NHS England Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response Framework 2015, the NHS Act 2006 as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the NHS standard contract, the NHS England Core Standards for EPRR and NHS England business continuity management framework.
Where can I find business continuity plans relevant to me?
Plans and action cards are available for everybody to use in each team, please ask your line manager where they are kept. They are also found on the CWP emergency planning intranet page.
How will I know if the business continuity plan is being put into operation in my team?
Your line manager will notify you and tell you when and how the plan is being put into operation and if applicable, any changes to your current working arrangements. This is why it is important to keep your team contact details up to date in case your line manager needs to contact you urgently. Your business continuity plan should explain how you may be affected in the event the plan is put into operation.
How can I help with business continuity?
Ask your line manager for the copy of your local business continuity plan and read it. If you have a trust mobile phone, leave a clear answer phone message, explaining when you will return the call or who to contact in your absence. Find out who your business continuity plan lead is. Take a look at the emergency planning webpage. Complete and attend your training (see below).
How can I get training in emergency planning and business continuity?
All staff must complete the emergency planning and business continuity module of mandatory employee learning every two years; your team may also offer awareness-raising sessions appropriate for your team.
What should I do if I discover an incident which could affect the running of our services?
Contact your line manager or bleep holder who will then contact 2nd tier on-call and your business continuity plan lead. They will risk assess the situation and if they think it appropriate, they may ask your team to implement your business continuity plan and will then contact CWP executive on-call / 3rd tier on-call who may declare a major incident.