The Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) and Business Continuity Management (BCM) Policy explains how NHS Essex prepares for emergencies and major disruptions.
It helps make sure important health services can continue during events such as severe weather, flooding, disease outbreaks, cyber attacks or other emergencies.
The policy also explains how NHS Essex works with emergency services, local councils, NHS organisations and other partners to protect patients and communities.
For more information, read the full policy by downloading the accessible Word document at the end of this page.
Who the policy applies to
This policy applies to:
- NHS Essex Board members
- permanent staff
- temporary and agency staff
- volunteers
- students and work experience staff
Why this policy is important
The Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) and Business Continuity Management (BCM) Policy helps NHS Essex to:
- prepare for emergencies
- respond quickly when incidents happen
- keep important services running
- protect patients, staff and communities
- recover from disruptions as quickly as possible
- meet legal and NHS requirements
What is EPRR?
EPRR stands for Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response.
It is the NHS approach to planning for and responding to emergencies.
Examples include:
- severe weather
- flooding
- major accidents
- infectious disease outbreaks
- cyber attacks
- loss of buildings or IT systems
- other events that affect health services
What is business continuity management?
Business Continuity Management (BCM) is about keeping essential services running during disruption.
Business continuity plans help NHS Essex continue working when unexpected events affect:
- staff availability
- buildings and facilities
- computer systems
- suppliers and contractors
- important information and records
How NHS Essex prepares for emergencies
The Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) and Business Continuity Management (BCM) Policy helps NHS Essex prepare by:
- identifying risks
- developing emergency plans
- providing staff training
- testing plans through exercises
- operating a 24-hour on-call service
- learning from incidents and emergencies
Regular testing helps make sure plans work when they are needed.
Responding to incidents and emergencies
NHS Essex has plans in place to respond to different types of incidents and emergencies.
These include:
- major incidents
- cyber security incidents
- severe weather events
- infectious disease outbreaks
- business continuity incidents
- evacuation and shelter incidents
NHS Essex works closely with partner organisations to coordinate responses and support local communities.
Training and exercises
Staff involved in emergency planning receive training and take part in exercises.
These exercises help staff practise their roles and identify improvements that can be made to emergency plans.
Working with partners
NHS Essex works with a range of organisations, including:
- NHS England
- local NHS organisations
- local councils
- emergency services
- voluntary and community organisations
- the Essex Resilience Forum
Working together helps ensure a coordinated response during emergencies.
Learning and improvement
After incidents, emergencies and training exercises, NHS Essex reviews what happened and identifies lessons that can be learned.
This helps improve future planning and strengthens organisational resilience.uity Management (BCM) Policy by downloading the accessible Word document below.
Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response and Business Continuity Management Policy (2MB docx)