ICBs should run exercises across seven areas to ensure they are prepared for ‘all types’ of incidents and emergencies, NHS England has said.
In a letter to ICB and trust emergency officers, the director of NHS resilience, Stephen Groves, outlined a national exercise programme for the NHS between 2024 and 2030.
He set out seven areas that NHS organisations must test for their preparedness for emergencies.
He said: ‘From October 2024, we will set 7 exercise themes for NHS organisations to exercise in turn on a yearly basis.’ These include:
- Casualty and mass casualty,
- Hazardous materials (HAZMAT) and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN),
- Business continuity,
- Cyber and digital,
- Infectious disease and pandemics,
- Adverse weather,
- Security, shelter and evacuation.
The letter said that ICBs will need to report on their capabilities across each of these areas and work together with other local partners to ensure a system-wide approach.
Mr Groves said: ‘NHS organisations, including integrated care boards, and NHS England regions will need to work together to plan, exercise and report on their capabilities within each theme, with consideration of their risk profiles and exercise requirements.
‘It is also important that organisations co-ordinate and involve appropriate civil protection partners, particularly from public health and social care, given the interdependencies across the sector and recognising the benefits of a whole society/system-wide approach.’
He added that across all of the themes, there will be particular capabilities attached, including incident management and equality and diversity.
The programme will not seek to replace the pre-existing exercise programme commitments or future local risk requirements, but is intended to complement the current delivery, he said.
‘This includes the previous government’s announcement to conduct a Tier 1 pandemic exercise,’ the letter said.
Mr Groves added he would write to ICBs with more details on the programme, its expectations and the ‘rota and format’ in which regions will undertake the requirements. Post-exercise reports and resources will also be shared to support exercise planning to ‘embed a system of continuous learning and improvement’.
It comes as ICBs have been told to take a ‘robust’ disciplinary approach to staff involved in racist behaviour, in the wake of civil unrest across the country.
