Press Release - Facing the Challenge: NHS Emergency Planning in
England
15 November 2002
Head of the National Audit Office Sir John Bourn today reported
to Parliament on how well prepared the NHS is to respond to
disasters. The NAO started this study before September 11 2001 and
since then updated its work to take into account progress made by
the NHS in this area during the subsequent period of heightened
awareness of terrorist threats.
According to the report, the NHS is prepared to cope with the
sort of major incidents of the kind experienced up to now such as
rail and plane crashes. There is also a scale of incident to which
no NHS or other organisation could be expected to respond fully;
and it is not sensible to expect everyone in the NHS to be prepared
for everything. However, the report found that, while there had
already been improvement in the planning for major incidents, there
was still more to do especially for the newer post September 11
threats.
The purpose of today’s NAO report was to assess the adequacy of
major incident planning by the NHS, identify areas of good practice
and assess the potential for this to be spread more widely. The
report was not intended to address wider issues of emergency
planning outside the NHS or the likelihood of any particular
disaster occurring. The NAO found that, in the best cases, there
had been a thorough review of hazards and a proper assessment of
the required response. There had also been substantial improvements
since September 11. However, momentum needed to be maintained to
deal with remaining weaknesses in the following areas: planning for
incidents, testing the plans, training relevant personnel, the
provision of protective equipment and decontamination facilities
and dealing with hazardous substances. There were also geographical
variations in the adequacy of planning arrangements.
Among the NAO’s recommendations are that the Department of
Health provide guidance on how to develop major incident plans and
commission a training strategy for dealing particularly with major
incidents associated with deliberate release of hazardous
substances. Chief Executives of acute and ambulance trusts should
also take immediate steps to identify and address any deficiencies
in NHS trust major incident plans and planning arrangements,
including the feedback of lessons learned into the planning
process, and ensure that they cover mass casualty and chemical,
biological, radiological and nuclear incidents.
Sir John Bourn said today:
"Since the events of September 11, the NHS has made a
concerted effort to improve its planning and preparedness for
dealing with major incidents and in many respects has succeeded.
But there is still room for improvement in the systems in place to
ensure that the NHS response is as good as possible.
"I recognise that there are limits to what can be done
in improving readiness. Some incidents are of a scale for which no
organisation could expect to be fully prepared. And it does not
necessarily make sense for everyone in the NHS to be prepared for
every eventuality.
"However, the nature of the threats now potentially
facing us means that the Department of Health and the Chief
Executives of hospital, ambulance and primary care trusts need to
continue to act with determination to improve their planning and
readiness."
Notes for Editors
- Major incidents range from road accidents and rail crashes to
radiation incidents or the deliberate release of chemical or
biological agents. Recent examples include the Great Heck rail
crash in February 2001 and the Potters Bar rail crash in May 2002.
Health authorities, acute hospital trusts and ambulance trusts
activated their major incident plans 118 times in 2000 and 86 times
in the first 8 months of 2001.
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website at http://www.nao.org.uk/ Hard copies can
be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office employing some 750 staff. He and
the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 66/02
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