Classification: Official
Publication reference: PRN01386
To:
- trust accountable emergency officers
- integrated care board (ICB) accountable emergency officers
cc.
- trust emergency preparedness, resilience and response (EPRR) leads
- ICB EPRR leads
- regional deputy directors for EPRR
Dear colleagues,
NHS EPRR exercise programme 2024 to 2030
NHS England aims to ensure that NHS organisations are fully prepared for all types of incidents and emergencies. A significant part of this work is delivered through the provision of guidance, training and exercise opportunities.
The Resilience framework committed to reinvigorating the national exercise programme, and the need for greater strategic oversight and direction in this area. This letter outlines our exercise programme for the NHS 2024 to 2030. This programme will enable routine, systematic testing in a co-ordinated manner thus creating a more holistic learning environment.
From October 2024, we will set 7 exercise themes for NHS organisations to exercise in turn on a yearly basis:
- 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
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.
Across all themes particular capabilities will be attached, as well as several cross-cutting capabilities including incident management, and equality and diversity. These themes are aligned and based on the EPRR assurance model.
This programme is designed to align with current NHS exercise requirements; and to use the breadth of NHS organisations in validating, assuring and improving incident response capabilities through shared learning. It complements current delivery and does not seek to replace pre-existing exercise programme commitments or future local risk requirements, for example through local resilience forums and organisational arrangements. This includes the previous government’s announcement to conduct a Tier 1 pandemic exercise.
I will write to you again with more details on the programme, including expectations regarding the delivery and the rota and format in which regions will undertake these requirements over the next 7 years. I will also share details of a space on FutureNHS that will give NHS organisations access to post-exercise reports and resources to support exercise planning. This will embed a system of continuous learning and improvement as it will allow all NHS organisations to share lessons and consider a broader evidence base when reviewing plans and planning future simulations.
In preparation for October 2024, we are working with UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) regarding the support it has traditionally provided to NHS organisations for regional exercise delivery, including collating, updating and developing off the shelf exercises. If you or your teams would like to support the development of these exercises or have an exercise that could be converted into one, please contact your NHS England EPRR regional team.
We are committed to driving this programme forward but also recognise further work is needed to strengthen collective resilience. We are seeking to hold an accountable emergency officer (AEO) event later this year to support AEOs to discharge their duties, discuss the exercising direction and to take a forward look at other EPRR matters.
Yours sincerely,
Stephen Groves, Director of NHS Resilience (EPRR)