Positive Feedback For NHS Community Services Emergency Plans
Posted on: 5th January 2015
Plans which ensure Lincolnshire's community NHS services can continue to respond in emergencies have been given positive feedback.
The Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) plans for Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) have been rated as providing 'assurance' by NHS England (Leicestershire and Lincolnshire).
The detailed plans are measured against a range of core standards and will support the LCHS's operational response in a broad range of situations.
Over the last year, the trust has supported the multi-agency responses to adverse weather and flooding in Boston, and played an active part in multi-agency exercises, which tested organisations' emergency preparedness.
The trust has also introduced Resilience Direct, which is a national system that allows organisations to share documents and information related to emergency planning and incidents.
More recently, the trust has helped to facilitate exercises relating to emergency planning for Ebola with other health organisations in the county.
Jill Anderson, Emergency Planning Lead for LCHS, said: "Our services provide a lifeline to families and individuals 365 days a year, seven days a week whether in our community hospitals, urgent care centres and minor injuries units, or specialist nursing and therapy services in our patients' homes.
"When emergency situations arise, we need to ensure we can continue to deliver our critical services to vulnerable patients and support our colleagues across the health and care community.
"We are pleased to be able to provide ongoing assurance about our plans and shape our future priorities. We will be working closely with a number of partner organisations, as well as being part of the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum, as we develop our responses further."