National incident response levels: guidance for health boards

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Document Title: Incident Response Levels: Guidance for Health Boards in Scotland

Owner and Contact Details

Health Emergency, Preparedness, Resilience & Response (EPRR) Division
Health and Social Care Dirctorate Scottish Government
St Andrew’s House, 1 Regent Road, Edinburgh, EH1 3DG
Email: Health.EPRR@gov.scot

Scottish Government Sponsor Department

Health and Social Care Directorates: Health Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) Division

Publication Date: April 2024

Reader Information Box

Target audience

NHS Chief Executives/Chief Operating Officer NHS Executive Leads for Resilience

NHS Resilience Managers/Officers

Scottish Government: Health and Social Care Directorates

Document Purpose: To provide a strategic approach to managing any type and level of incident response impacting a health board’s capability to provide and maintain services and/or care to patients.

Description: Health boards should use the guidance to support local/regional governance and decision making in assessing the type and level of response required.

Superseded Documents

This is the first publication of National Incident Response guidance for Health Boards in Scotland.

Table 1 supersedes previous response level tables in other documents including:

• Annex B of the HealthEPRR Incident Reporting template; and
• Appendix 1 of the MIMC National Plan for NHS Boards

and Health and Social Care Partnerships (2021)

Action Required: NHS Boards should ensure this guidance is made available to those working on emergency incident planning and response as part of their overall approach to managing disruptive events within their organisation.

SG file reference: A46589852