Ensuring that our services remain safe, effective and resilient, no matter the circumstances, is a core responsibility of the Trust.
Business Continuity and Emergency Planning, Resilience and Response (EPRR) provide the framework that enables us to prepare for, respond to and recover from a wide range of disruptions and emergencies.
This page outlines what these responsibilities involve, why they are essential to delivering high‑quality patient care, and how our performance is assessed against national NHS Core Standards.
Business Continuity within NHS organisations is to maintain continuity of key services in the face of disruption from identified local risks. Under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the Health and Care Act 2022, all NHS organisations have a duty to put in place continuity arrangements.
The NHS needs to plan for, and respond to, a wide range of incidents and emergencies that could affect health or patient care. These could be anything from extreme weather conditions to an outbreak of an infectious disease or a major Incident. The Health and Care Act 2022 outlines specific obligations for emergency planning, including the requirement to appoint an Accountable Emergency Officer (AEO), and the implementation of NHS Core Standards to ensure compliance with relevant legislation and guidance.
Each year, NHS England conducts a thorough review of our plans, training, exercising and preparations to manage the impacts of emergencies on our services, by assessing against 58 Core Standards.
For the year to 31 August 2025, the Trust has achieved 98% compliance with core standards and is assessed as Substantially Compliant