Severe Weather Plan 3
Version: V3
Ratified by: Finance and Investment Committee
Date ratified: 06/11/2024
Job Title of author: Nicky Mclean
Emergency Preparedness Resilience & Response (EPRR) Manager
Reviewed by Committee or Expert Group
Related procedural documents
Health Senior Leadership Team (HSLT)
Major Incident Plan
EPRR Policy
Business Continuity Policy
Service Business Continuity Plans
Review date: 06/11/2025
It is the responsibility of users to ensure that you are using the most up to date document template – i.e. obtained via the intranet.
In developing/reviewing this procedure Provide Community has had regard to the principles of the NHS Constitution
1 October 2022 Emergency Preparedness Resilience & Response (EPRR) Manager Approved
in line with UKHSA Cold Weather Plan 2 October 2023 Emergency Preparedness Resilience & Response (EPRR) Manager Approved Updated in line with the UKHSA Adverse Weather Plan
3 October 2024 Emergency Preparedness Resilience & Response (EPRR) Manager
1. Introduction
This plan provides the framework for coordinating the organisations response to a sudden or prolonged period of severe weather. This includes cold weather, wind/gales and/or flooding. It is not a standalone document and supplements the organisation’s existing Major Incident and Business Continuity Plans by providing additional information and guidance specific to mitigating, minimising and responding to the effects of cold weather and flooding.
In line with national guidance the plan is:
• Built on effective service and business continuity arrangements; and
• Responsive to local challenges and needs.
When activated this plan contains procedures that allow the organisation to:
• Receive and cascade Met Office notifications, UKHSA notifications and Environment Agency alerts
• Comply with any external reporting requirements and generate local situation reports;
• Reduce impact (including reducing the likelihood of excess deaths);
• Identify service users that are ‘high risk’ who might be at increased vulnerability during severe or cold weather;
• Ensure that critical services are maintained;
• Cope with localised disruptions to services;
• Provide timely, authoritative and up-to-date information for staff; and
• Return to normal working after cold/severe weather incidents as rapidly and efficiently as possible
This plan like all Provide’s emergency plans is updated as new guidance is made available and following recommendations from internal (or external) incidents and exercises.
This plan is not a stand-alone document and should be used in conjunction with the following plans
• The Provide Business Continuity Plan and Service Business Continuity arrangements, which detail how individual services will continue to deliver their critical activities during a cold weather or flooding event.
• The Major Incident Plan that provides the response structure to manage any major or critical incident.
2. Purpose
The aim of this plan is to ensure that PROVIDE can respond to severe weather disruptions to its business in a way that ensures that statutory obligations are met, and supports its overall vision and mission.
The objectives of this plan are to ensure:
1. PROVIDE is compliant with its legal and regulatory obligations;
2. Critical and essential activities and services are identified, protected and ensure their continuity;
3. Stakeholder requirements are understood and can be delivered;
4. Staff, service users and the public are properly communicated with;
5. Staff receive adequate support and advice in the event of a severe weather disruption.
3. Definitions
The following terms and definitions are included within this document
Term
Business continuity
Business Continuity Incident
Critical Incident
Civil Contingencies
Act 2004
Civil Contingencies
Secretariat (CCS)
Flood Alert
Flood warning
Definition
Capability of the organisation to continue to delivery of products or services at acceptable predefined levels following a disruptive incident
A business continuity incident is an event or occurrence that disrupts an organisation’s normal service delivery, below acceptable predefined levels, where special arrangements are required to be implanted until services can return to an acceptable level.
A critical incident is any localised incident where the level of disruption results in the organisation temporarily or permanently losing its ability to deliver critical services, patients may have been harmed or the environment is not safe requiring special measures and support from other agencies, to restore normal operating functions
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA) delivers a single framework for the protection of civil protection in the UK.
The Act divides responder organisations into two categories; Category One and Category Two depending on the extent of their involvement in civil protection work
The Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS), or Cabinet Office, is to ensure the United Kingdom's resilience against disruptive challenge, and to do this by working with others to anticipate, assess, prevent, prepare, respond and recover.
Flooding is possible and you need to be prepared
Flooding is expected and you should take immediate action. Impact on the ground will include flooded homes, businesses and infrastructure
Heavy snow Snow that is expected to fall for at least two hours. Geographic extent is not considered and sometimes the event can be quite localised, but the Met Office will always try to indicate which area will be affected in the alert.
Invocation Act of declaring that the business continuity arrangements need to be put into effect in order to continue delivery of key products or services
Major Incident
Severe flood warning
Widespread ice
A major incident is any occurrence that presents serious threat to the health of the community or causes such numbers or types of casualties, as to require special arrangements to be implemented.
There is severe flooding and danger to life. Impact on the ground will include deep and fast flowing water, potential collapse of structures, critical resources disabled, large towns isolated and large volumes of evacuees
Warnings are issued when any depth of ice is expected over a widespread area. Warnings will also be issued after a snowfall when compacted snow is expected to cause an ice risk
4. Duties
4.1
Chief Executive
The Chief Executive has the overall responsibility for emergency preparedness, resilience and response (EPRR) and is accountable to the Board for ensuring that systems are in place to facilitate an effective incident response including the continuity of critical/essential services
4.2
Accountable Emergency Officer (AEO)
The Provide Health Chief Executive is the nominated Accountable Emergency Officer (AEO) who is responsible for ensuring the full implementation of the organisation’s emergency preparedness resilience and response arrangements (on behalf of the Provide Group Chief Executive). The AEO may be called upon to help in the response of any incident that result in the corporate (this) plan being invoked.
4.3
Emergency Preparedness Resilience & Response Manager
The Emergency Preparedness Resilience & Response (EPRR) Manager is responsible for assisting the AEO in implementing the emergency preparedness resilience and response arrangements and where available may be asked to provide advice during the incident response.
4.4
All staff
All staff have a role to play in business continuity in raising alerts, assisting service leads/managers in keeping the service running as normal as possible, and being flexible in their working arrangements.
4.5
Heads of Service/Service Leads (Operational/Bronze)
Heads of Service/Service leads keep their business as usual role in a business disruption including those resulting from a severe weather incident and are responsible for the coordination of the team and functions for which they are usually responsible. All Heads of Service/service leads need to be aware of their team’s essential and critical activities
4.6 Director/Senior Manager on-call (Tactical/Silver)
The role of the Directors or manager on-call (Tactical/Silver if a major/critical incident has been declared) is to coordinate the business continuity measures across the organisation.
4.7
Director on-call/Strategic (Gold) commander
The Director on-call or Strategic (Gold) Commander if a critical or major incident has been declared sets the strategic direction for the organisations response and provides final oversight and approval for the logs, authorises external situation reports, mutual aid arrangements and communications.
5. Consultation and Communication
This plan has been reviewed by the Health Senior Leadership Team (HSLT) and ratified by the Finance and Investment Committee (FIC).
6. Monitoring
NHS England EPRR Annual Assurance Process
All NHS organisations and providers of NHS funded care are held to account by NHS England for having effective EPRR processes and systems in place. An annual assurance process is used by NHS England and Integrated care Boards (ICBs) to seek assurance that organisations are prepared to respond to an emergency and have the resilience in
place to continue to provide safe patient care during a major incident or business continuity event. The indicators are set against the EPRR core standards and an action plan is agreed against any standard that is assessed as requiring improvement. Progress against the action plan is monitored through Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
Business continuity or major/critical incidents will be monitored by the EPRR manager through SLT and any lessons identified will be considered for changes to EPRR practice.
7. Flood Planning
7.1 Planning information
7.1.1 Provide has actively participated in the development of all local Multi-Agency Flood Plans (MAFP). The plans are maintained by local authorities/councils and are ratified by the Local Resilience Forums. All Multi-agency flood plans detail Provide’s response actions to any perceived or actual flooding incident.
7.1.2 In the event of a flooding incident occurring internally within a Provide site (i.e. a burst water pipe) dependant on the severity and impact upon services business continuity plans should be referred to.
7.2 Warning and informing
7.2.1 Under the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 all Category 1 responders (e.g. emergency services, Local Authorities, NHS England & MSE ICB, UKHSA) have a duty to maintain arrangements to warn the public if an emergency is likely or has already occurred. In the case of a flooding incident, the lead agency for carrying out this duty will change as the incident progresses. Prior to an incident, the Environment Agency will be the lead agency. During an incident, dependant on the impacts, the local authority/council or the police will be the lead agency while in the recovery phase the local authority/council will act as the lead agency.
Provide will coordinate its warning and informing activities to ensure that residents, staff, carers and relatives receive consistent, accurate information and advice. Good coordination will prevent agencies issuing conflicting messages.
7.2.2 The Environment Agency is responsible for issuing warnings as detailed below.
Flood Alert - Flooding is possible and you need to be prepared
Flood Warning - Flooding is expected and you should take immediate action. Impact on the ground will include flooded homes, businesses and infrastructure
Severe Flood Warning - there is severe flooding and danger to life. Impact on the ground will include deep and fast flowing water, potential collapse of structures, critical resources disabled, large towns isolated and large volumes of evacuees
7.2.3 The Environment Agency also provides a telephone information line for the public to call before, during and after flooding.
• Floodline telephone number: 0345 988 1188 (24/7)
7.2.4 The joint EA/ Met Office Flood Forecasting Centre produces a Flood Guidance Statement, which provides a daily flood risk assessment for responders to assist with tactical planning decisions. Flood Guidance Statements are issued by email and received by the Emergency Preparedness Resilience and Response (EPRR) manager
7.2.5 The EPRR manager in conjunction with the communications team will ensure that staff are provided with timely and up-to-date information about the potential flooding and if required response arrangements.
8. National Severe Weather Warning Service (NSWWS)
8.1 WARNINGS
The Met Office’s National Severe Weather Warning Service (NSWWS) warns organisations and the public about a range of high-impact weather events, including rain, snow, wind, fog and ice. This service operates year-round across the UK and can be found on the Met Office website.
A warning will be issued when snow and ice is forecast to cause an impact across a number of sectors, including health. It is issued based on a combination of the impact of the weather, and the likelihood of the weather happening. A NSWWS warning can be issued up to 5 days in advance of the expected event.
8.2 Warning levels
• Warnings are based on a combination of:
• likelihood – how likely the event is to occur
• impact – the potential impact the expected conditions may have
• Colour of warnings (impact matrix)
Warnings are given a colour depending on a combination of both the likelihood of the event happening and the impact the conditions may have:
• red • amber • yellow
9. Cold weather alerts and levels
9.1 Alerts
9.1.1 Depending on the severity, duration and geographical spread of severely cold weather conditions, a series of escalating alerts will be issued up to a national emergency (Red Alert) in line with the UKHSA Adverse Weather and Health Plan.
9.1.2 The Met Office will issue alerts up to Cold Weather Amber Alert, while a Red Alert will be issued following cross-government consultation, in response to a particularly severe winter weather event.
9.1.3 This service will run in England from 1 November to 31 March.
9.2 Levels
9.2.1 Green Alert: Severe Weather Preparedness – A Green Alert is general severe weather preparedness. No alert will be issued as the conditions are likely to have minimal impact on health
9.2.2 Yellow and Amber Alerts – Yellow and Amber Alerts cover a range of potential impacts (including impacts on specific vulnerable groups (for example people sleeping rough) through to wider impacts on the general population) as well as the likelihood (low to high) of those impacts occurring. This includes any heavy snowfall or widespread ice. This information should aid the organisation in making decisions about the appropriate level of response during the alert period
9.2.3 Red Alert - Emergency Response– A Red Alert would indicate significant risk to life for even the healthy population. A red warning would be issued as a result of a cross Government assessment of the weather conditions and occurs when the impacts of severe weather extend beyond the health sector.
Table 1
Cold Weather Alert levels
Green Alert Severe Weather Preparedness
No alert is issued as the conditions are likely to have minimal impact on health. However, during periods where the risk is minimal it is important that organisations ensure that they have plans in place and are prepared to respond should an alert (yellow, amber or red) be issued.
Yellow Alert Response
Yellow alerts may be issued during periods of severe weather in which it would be unlikely to impact most people, however those who are particularly vulnerable (for example the elderly with multiple health conditions and on multiple medications) are likely to struggle to cope, and where action is required within the health and social care sector specifically. A yellow alert may also be issued if the confidence in the weather forecast is low, but there could be more significant impacts if the worst-case scenario is realised. In this situation the alert may be upgraded as the confidence in both the weather forecast and the likelihood of observing those impacts increases
Amber Alert Enhanced Response
An amber alert represents a situation in which the expected impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service, with potential for the whole population to be at risk and where other sectors apart from health may also start to observe impacts, indicating that a coordinated response is required. In addition, in some circumstances a NSWWS warning may be issued in conjunction with and aligned to the WHA, indicating that significant impacts are expected across multiple sectors.
Red Alert Major Incident – Emergency response
A red alert indicates significant risk to life for even the healthy population. A red health alert would likely be issued in conjunction with a similar appropriate red NSWWS warning, noting that the NSWWS warning also focusses on infrastructure impacts and may have slightly different coverage. Several impacts would be expected across all sectors with a coordinated response essential.
9.3 Cold Weather Alerts – definitions
Heavy snow – Snow that is expected to fall for at least two hours. Geographic extent is not considered and sometimes the event can be quite localised, but the Met Office will always try to indicate which area will be affected in the alert.
Widespread ice – Warnings are issued when any depth of ice is expected over a widespread area. Warnings will also be issued after a snowfall when compacted snow is expected to cause an ice risk.
10.Cold weather planning
10.1 Strategic planning information
10.1.1 Long term planning for cold weather will be included in health improvement plans agreed by local partner agencies including health, social care, local authorities and others and be owned collectively by those partners.
10.1.2 A key part of the planning process is to identify and address the needs of different groups and communities including marginalised and vulnerable groups. Long term planning and commissioning to reduce cold-related harm is considered core business by Health and Wellbeing Boards and included within Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies.
10.2 At risk groups
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) Adverse Weather and Health Plan lists the following key groups to be particularly at risk in the event of a severe cold weather event;
• people who have chronic medical conditions
• those living with learning and/or physical disabilities that may prevent them being able to keep warm or leave them at greater risk of developing chest infections
• those who cannot afford to keep warm enough during the winter months
• older people (aged 65 and over)
• people with cardiovascular conditions
• people with respiratory conditions (in particular, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and childhood asthma)
• people with mental health conditions
• people with learning and/or physical disabilities
• young children (particularly those aged under 5)
• pregnant women
• people on a low income
• people who are sleeping rough
10.3 Cold Weather Impacts
10.3.1 Mortality is significantly higher during the winter months in the UK (December to March) when compared to other seasons As well as the significant rise in deaths, the winter period also sees a substantial increase in illnesses.
The reasons more people die in winter relative to other times of the year are complex and interlinked, including:
• poor quality housing, particularly cold homes
• circulating infectious diseases, particularly flu and norovirus
• physical hazards such as snow and ice
• health inequalities
10.3.2 Health
Evidence implies that there is an increase in hospital admissions and general practice attendances from cold related illnesses, these include;
• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Influenza
• Falls and injuries
• Respiratory Disease
• Hypothermia
Indirect effects include *mental health illnesses such as depression, reduced educational and employment attainment and carbon monoxide poisoning from poorly maintained or poorly ventilated boilers.
Although exposure to extreme cold can kill directly through hypothermia, respiratory and circulatory conditions, dementia and Alzheimer’s are the leading causes of cold related illness and death. People with dementia and Alzheimer’s may not recognise that they are cold.
Cold housing can also negatively affect children’s emotional wellbeing and resilience. Studies have suggested that more than one in four adolescents living in cold housing are at risk of developing mental health problems compared with one in 20 adolescents who have always lived in warm housing.
Health impacts associated with cold homes also include:
• Increased risk of heart attack and stroke
• Respiratory illnesses – adults and children
• Low weight gain in infants
• Poor diet and nutrition as a result of ‘heat or eat’ choices
• Falls and accidents
• Worsening of existing health conditions or slow recovery from illness
11.Severe weather response arrangements
11.1 Management arrangements
For the response to a cold, flooding or winter weather emergency Provide will use normal management arrangements, local issues will be managed in the first instance by a line manager. In the event of a period of prolonged cold weather, it may be necessary depending on the severity and impact of the weather and disruption to invoke business continuity arrangements.
11.2 Determining the response
Cold weather and flooding alerts are received by the EPRR Manager who will review the alert and potential local impacts. Depending on the type and severity of the incident the response may be treated as a major incident (Red Alert cold weather alert or widespread flooding) when the organisation may decide to invoke the provisions of the Provide Major Incident Plan (MIP). This will only be invoked if the incident meets the criteria for a Major Incident.
11.3 Reporting
In the event of a cold weather or flooding alert being issued, the organisation may be required to submit situational reports externally to NHS England and/or our commissioners or collect information regarding service levels. The request will normally be sent via email for completion. Local commissioners may also request
assurance that the organisation is aware of the alert and is undertaking the appropriate actions. Such requests will be co-ordinated through the EPRR Manager.
11.4 Patient care
Senior managers should also monitor the need to carry out actions required of this plan at short notice to safeguard services and protect staff and patients and should initiate service Business Continuity Plan arrangements as necessary.
11.5 Staff Attendance Issues
Staff should make every attempt to attend work; should staff be unable to attend work due to weather conditions Human Resources have provided guidance as at Appendix A.
11.6 Snow and ice
The effects of snow upon the organisations operations will vary depending upon its severity, the speed of onset and the length of time it continues snowing.
Provide commissions a contractor who provides a full gritting service to all Provide owned sites. The contractor monitors the temperatures and grit access points where low temperatures are likely to result in the formation of icy conditions. Gritting where possible is completed before the falling of snow to prevent accumulations. Where snow has accumulated on site this is cleared where possible and fresh grit applied. For all non-owned Provide sites this service is the responsibility of the landlord/owner. The primary difficulty posed by snow is its impact upon travel, both staff travel to work, between sites, and home visiting (For Travel Guidance see Appendix B).
Local Authority Gritting routes
Most local authorities advertise their gritting routes through their websites and communicate their gritting routes via twitter.
Essex http://www.essexhighways.org/Transport-and-Roads/Roads-and-Pavements/Winter-travel/Saltingroutes.aspx
Suffolk https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/highway-maintenance/check-which-roads-are-gritted
11.7 Flooding
11.7.1
Advanced warning
If a credible advanced warning is received this will alert the organisation that there is the potential for flooding to occur. In this phase, local councils will monitor the risks more closely, keep multi agency partners informed of the developing situation and prepare the Council’s response.
Multiagency partners may be asked to acknowledge receipt of advanced warnings and take any preparatory actions they deem necessary. In addition the following actions may be taken;
• The EPRR Manager will disseminate information to relevant teams/services and on-call teams as necessary
• Services to review business continuity arrangements and update staff.
• Site staff to check that any drains outside their premises are free of debris that could block them and result in flooding (visual check by walk around site perimeter) - should any potential blockages be identified, the maintenance
contractor for the site should be notified and they will make arrangements for clearance.
• On-Call staff to familiarise themselves with the Corporate Business Continuity Plan and the health actions detailed in the relevant Multi-Agency Flood Plans.
11.7.2 Flood Event Occurring
Each flooding incident is different and the priorities of the response will vary; however, there are some priority tasks that are common to many flooding incidents. These are as follows;
• Affected services to consider activating their Business Continuity Plans if necessary and escalating response as appropriate.
• If out of hours on-call staff to be alerted by affected services, Local Area Team or Local Authority.
• Director on-Call should consider whether to activate the Corporate Business Continuity Plan - consider redeployment of essential staff to alternative work locations.
• Should the organisation be called upon to assist in a community emergency due to the flood event, on-call senior management staff should:
consider whether the organisations emergency response requires activation of the Incident Coordination Centre (details of how to do this are in the On-Call Pack and the Major Incident Plan) undertake any necessary actions outlined in the relevant Multi-Agency Flood Plan manage the organisation’s response in support of the community and partner responders.
identify all vulnerable persons. The response given to vulnerable people during a flooding incident must be made a priority. When a major incident is declared the organisation may be asked to provide details of known vulnerable people in the affected areas. Further details can be found at Appendix C
identify the organisation sites within the affected are and consider the actions required to ensure the buildings are protected from flooding. A list of all the Provide estate is included within the on-call pack.
11.8 4x4 Response support
In times of severe weather (heavy snow, flooding etc) Essex County Council have an agreed protocol to provide 4x4 support capability to emergency services for use in emergency situations. Procedures to be followed can be found at Appendix D
11.9
Severe Weather Escalation Protocol (SWEP)
Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) is activated when the Met Office forecasts a temperature of below zero Celsius fora minimum of three nights. Local weather conditions such as wind chill, snow and heavy rainfall will also be considered.
The SWEP arrangements are focused on preventing people who are sleeping rough from dying when there is severe weather. All people who are sleeping rough are to be provided a bed for the night. Even those who are not owed a statutory duty under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, Part VII of the Housing Act 1996, and those who have no recourse to public funds.
The protocol sets out how the council makes sure vulnerable people and street homeless people are protected during the winter, or when severe weather is predicted.
It explains the actions of the housing solutions team when severe weather warning is triggered, activated and deactivated. Councils are required to act quickly to make sure people sleeping rough have access to shelter. Especially if they are thought to be at risk during severe cold weather.
Local councils will work with partner organisations to match individuals with relevant support services during winter months.
11 10 Stand down
The receipt of a lower level alert from the Met Office/Environment Agency will be communicated to staff via the emergency preparedness team. If a major incident had been declared the decision to stand down will be made by the Strategic (Gold) Command; on agreeing to stand-down all managers activated or placed on standby must be contacted and stood down and staff should be informed as necessary.
11.11 Recovery
Should a cold weather or flooding event affect the organisation’s operations or the local community, the Strategic (Gold) Command is responsible for initiating and managing the provide recovery processes. This may involve co-ordinating the Provide response with a wider multi-agency community recovery process led by the Local Authority.
Should the impact upon the organisation be significant, the Strategic (Gold) Command may consider appointing a Recovery Manager to co-ordinate the internal recovery process as a support to their overall leadership of the incident.
12.Cold weather alert actions
12.1 Cold weather alert – green alert
Green alerts run throughout the winter and indicate that people should be preparing for the possibility of severe weather and its effects on health.
EPRR Manager
1 Ensure that the severe weather and major incident plans are up to date and are accessible to all staff
2 Ensure that the internal alert and cascade system for the appropriate staff to receive Cold/Severe Weather Alerts is in place and activated.
On-call Staff
1 Read and understand responsibilities outlined in the plan and actions to undertake upon the receipt of Cold/Severe Weather Alerts
Community Based Services
1 Ensure staff are briefed on the severe weather plan and that staff are encouraged to receive the flu and Covid 19 vaccinations
2 Identify individuals who are at risk from cold weather taking into account both cold and covid19 intersecting risks (see sections 9 2 & 9.4)
3 Identify any changes to individual care plans for those in high-risk groups, which might be necessary in the event of a cold or severe weather incident, including initiating daily visits by formal or informal carers to check on people living on their own
4 Work with the families and informal carers of at-risk individuals, to ensure that they are aware of the dangers of cold weather and offer advice/leaflets on how to keep warm
5 Check clients room temperatures if visiting. Ensure that they have at least one room which meets recommended room temperatures. (18 ºC day and night-time, see Appendix E)
6 Signpost those at risk clients/patients to other services; use the Keep Warm Keep Well booklet for up to date patient information and advice.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keep-warm-keep-well-leaflet-gives-advice-on-staying-healthy-incold-weather
7 Encourage patients in at-risk groups to seek the flu and Covid 19 vaccination from their GP Inpatient Areas &
Clinics
1 Ensure staff are briefed on the severe weather plan and that staff are encouraged to receive the flu and Covid 19 vaccination
2 Identify patients within at-risk groups preparing for discharge and ensure they get advice/ leaflets on how to keep warm
3 Encourage patients in at-risk groups to seek flu and Covid 19 vaccination from their GP Communications Team
1 Use ‘Week in Summary’ to inform staff to familiarise themselves with the severe weather plan and that the green alert actions are currently in place
12.2 Cold weather alert – yellow alert
COLD WEATHER ALERT – YELLOW ALERT ACTIONS
A Yellow Alert will be issued when there is a very likely risk of increased demand for GP services, ambulance call out, remote healthcare services (NHS111) likely due to whole population risk. Impact on ability of services delivered due to cold weather effects on workforce possible (i.e. travel issues) Potential for increased usage of healthcare services by vulnerable population. Temperatures likely to become very cold increasing risk of weather-related injuries and illnesses
Community Based Services
1 Ensure that list of patients at risk are up-to-date
2 Put in place additional care arrangements if considered necessary
3 When visiting patients, ensure that they are warm and have at least one room that meets the recommended room temperatures (18 ºC day and night-time, see Appendix E)
4 Check that patients have supplies of food and medication
5 Remind patients of actions they may take to protect themselves from the effects of severe cold
6 Prepare actions to be taken to increase capacity to meet increased pressures
7 Consider how forecast weather conditions may affect your ability to make your visits/ do your work
Inpatient Areas
1 Check that the temperatures in patient areas meet the recommended room temperatures (18 ºC)
2 Identify patients within at-risk groups preparing for discharge and ensure they get advice/ leaflets on how to keep warm https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keep-warm-keep-well-leaflet-gives-advice-on-staying-healthy-incold-weather
3 Prepare actions to be taken to increase staff capacity to meet increased pressures Clinics
1 Ensure that preparations have been made for a potential influx of weather-related injuries and illnesses
2 Ensure that the temperatures in patient areas meet the recommended room temperatures (18ºC)
Communications Team
1 Inform staff of alert level increase via the front page of intranet, via the staff briefing and social media.
2 Inform the public using supplied DHSC guidance regarding staying warm in the winter
3 Feature alert level change on front page of the Provide website and link to the Met Office Severe Weather Alert page
All Services
1 Consider how forecast weather conditions may affect your service/teams ability to continue service delivery
2 Consider implementing business continuity arrangements as appropriate.
An Amber Alert will be issued when there is a risk of increased mortality amongst vulnerable population groups (such as the elderly) and potential for increased usage of healthcare services by vulnerable population. Heavy snowfall or widespread ice likely Community Based Services
1 Continue all Yellow Alert actions
2 Prepare to support increased discharge from Acute Trusts and implement actions to increase capacity to meet increased pressures as required
3 Consider whether it is necessary to maintain daily telephone contact with vulnerable patients
4 Consider how forecast weather conditions may affect your ability to make your visits/ do your work (i.e. ice, snow) alongside managing service delivery within the team with potential limited staffing (due to travel issues)
5 Ensure any known rough sleepers are reported to the Local council should SWEP be activated.
1 Continue all Yellow Alert actions
Inpatient Areas
2 Prepare to support increased discharge from Acute Trusts and implement actions to increase capacity to meet increased pressures as required Clinics
1 Continue all Yellow Alert actions
2 Implement any pre-prepared actions necessary to deal with an influx of weather-related injuries and illnesses
Communications Team
1 Inform staff of alert level increase via the front page of intranet, through an all staff email, via the staff briefing and social media
2 Inform the public using supplied DHSC guidance regarding staying warm in the winter
3 Feature alert level change on front page of the Provide website and link to the Met Office Severe Weather Alert page.
On-call Staff
1 Monitor disruption to services and consider the implementation of service business continuity plans or surge management plans. If either are activated inform the Director on-call who will monitor the situation and if required consider activating the Corporate Business Continuity Plan.
All Services
1 Consider how forecast weather conditions may affect your service/teams ability to continue service delivery
2 Consider implementing business continuity arrangements as appropriate.
3 Ensure that access to the buildings is assessed and gritted where required (via Estates teams where applicable)
Critical or Major Incident Emergency response - severe or prolonged cold weather affecting sectors other than health
A Red Alert is issued when the cold weather is so severe and/or prolonged that its effects extend outside health and social care, such as power or water shortages, and/or where the integrity of health and social care systems is threatened.
At this level, illness and death may occur among the fit and healthy and not just in high-risk groups. Red Alerts and Critical or Major Incidents may be declared locally, regionally, or nationally, according to established operating doctrines.
