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Emergency preparedness at GP practices
This section is provided for health professionals (GPs, dentists, pharmacists etc).
Members of the general public are welcome to use these pages but should be aware that they are not written with them in mind. Please choose an option on the left for information aimed at the general public.
The documents on this page can help practices respond to a range of emergency issues, from power cuts to pandemic flu.
A. Emergency planning / business continuity advice for health professionals.
The PCT requires all practices to maintain an emergency / business continuity plan, so that they are resilient to business threats, from staff shortage (for whatever reason), through to involvement in a large external incident such as a pandemic. A plan template is attached, for completion by a practice together with current GP buddying arrangements and suggestions for reviewing and updating your plan.
- General practice emergency/ business continuity plan template(320kb Word file)
- PCGP Major Incidents Position Statement (156 PDF file)
- GP Buddying Arrangements for October 2010 (33kb Excel file)
- Business continuity planning review October 2010 (62kb Word file)
B. Seasonal Flu & Winter Planning advice for health professionals
The PCT and other LHE organisations have agreed an LHE winter plan, and supporting escalation process, to manage strategic winter [planning risks. The PCT leads for these documents are Juliet Warburton & Wendy Young. The PCT also liaises with practices to assist in the delivery of seasonal flu vaccine. A Seasonal Flu Handbook is maintained as guidance for practices and can be found here:
- Seasonal Flu Handbook (482kb Word file)
Please contact Barbara Hardcastle for any further advice on 01273 574669.
C. Pandemic Flu archive (archived advice for health professionals)
All info relating to the recent Swine Flu Pandemic has been archived, and can be found here:
Please note much of this is now out of date and has not been updated since (09.11.10).
D Where to get help.
In primary care, practices should ensure that they have plans available which include measures to ensure resilience against winter threats and general Business Continuity / emergency planning issues. The PCT’s Resilience Manger is available to provide Emergency Planning and Business Continuity advice to GP’s practices, Community Pharmacies, Dentists & Optometrists, and other Health Professionals. Please contact Kevin Claxton at (tel:/ 01273 574731)
