[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Emergencies

Human Health

The Health Protection Agency [External website] deals with epidemics and health issues, along with the Department of Health [External website] and the Northern Ireland Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety [External website], SHOW - Scotland's Health on the Web [External website] and HOWIS - Health of Wales Information Service [External website].

NHS Direct has 24-hour health information and advice, on the Healthline: 0845 46 47

On this page:

The level of risk
Links:

The level of risk

Though the risk of a serious epidemic or outbreak of disease has reduced with the widespread availability of modern drugs and medicines, the risk clearly remains. The Department of Health (DH) [External website] is the lead in Government and it works with the National Health Service and other health and social care organisations to deliver effective and efficient health and social care.

Though the health of the nation continues to improve, the UK Government is not complacent about the risks that we face. Human health hazards that are of particular concern and which drive the UK Government's contingency planning assumptions are an influenza type disease (both at epidemic and pandemic scales), an outbreak of a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) type disease and a localised outbreak of legionella or meningitis.

Guidance

A national framework for responding to an influenza pandemic [External website] - This Revised Framework sets out the Government's strategic approach to achieving the Government's aim of ensuring that the UK is prepared to limit the internal spread of a pandemic, to the extent that this is possible, and to minimise health, economic and social harm as far as possible achieving these aims and is intended for use by all those involved in planning for and responding to an influenza pandemic. It builds upon and supersedes previous UK Influenza Pandemic contingency planning.

Overarching Government Strategy to respond to an Influenza Pandemic - Analysis of the scientific evidence base [PDF, 72 pages, 715KB]

Preparing for Pandemic Influenza - Guidance to Local Planners (including checklist for Local Resilience Forum plans) [PDF, 27 pages, 344KB] - This document replaces the previous CCS publication REVISED – Guidance: Contingency Planning for a Possible Influenza Pandemic from July 2006.

Department of Health: A Strategy for Infectious Diseases [External website]

Department of Health: Communicable Diseases [External website]

WHO: Outbreak Communication [External PDF, 70 pages, 1.47MB]
Best practice for communicating with the public during an outbreak Report of the WHO Expert Consultation on Outbreak Communications held in Singapore, 21-23 September 2004

WHO: Outbreak communication guidelines [External PDF, 13 pages, 453KB]
A shortlist of outbreak communication best practice

Practitioner Information

NaTHNaC - National Travel Health Network and Centre [External website] funded by the Department of Health to promote clinical standards in travel medicine. With information and guidance for health professionals and travellers.

Ethics and SARS: Learning Lessons from the Toronto Experience [External website]

WHO: Disease Outbreak News [External website]

Department of Health Emergency Planning Links [External website] Includes good practice, key documents, and where to go for emergency information

Department of Health Emergency Planning Contacts [External website]

HPA: Emergency Response [External website] Planning and preparation for emergencies for health professionals

EU: Public health - latest news [External website]

HPA: Clinical Action Cards for Healthcare Professionals [External website] Information cards for frontline healthcare professionals to enable the early recognition of the symptoms that might be caused by new diseases or a CBRN event.

WHO: Communicable disease control in emergencies: a field manual [External website]

HPA: Food, Dairy, Water and Environmental Microbiology Network [External website]

HPA Emergency Exercise Programme [External website]

Pandemic Influenza

See also our Pandemic Flu section of this site

The Cabinet Office has published introductory material on pandemic influenza for businesses and other organisations [PDF, 6 pages, 138KB] to use, should they so wish, as basis of advice to their staff during the current pandemic alert period WHO Phase 3 to raise awareness about pandemic influenza. Publication does not mean either an increase in the risk of a pandemic emerging or that a pandemic is necessarily imminent. It is part of Cabinet Office's ongoing work to ensure that businesses and other organisations have appropriate advice to help them plan.

GLA Group Pandemic Flu Response Plan, July 2006 [External PDF, 179KB, 39 pages] Details the contingency arrangements for London in the event of an influenza pandemic.

Guidance for Schools: Planning for a human flu pandemic [External website] New guidance from the DfES, in consultation with other Government departments and external partners

Pandemic Influenza Checklist for Businesses: to assist businesses and other organisations in developing and reviewing plans for a flu pandemic, the Government has published a checklist identifying important and specific activities which organisations can do to prepare [PDF 129KB, 4 pages].

FCO: Avian and Pandemic Influenza: factsheet for British nationals travelling or resident overseas [External website]

FT: Ask the experts - how to prepare for bird flu [External website] Online Q&A with Bruce Mann, head of the CCS, and Dr. Michael Perdue of the World Health Organization, covering a variety of issues including business continuity planning, time frames, anti-virals.

Health and Safety Executive: Pandemic Influenza page [External website]

Health and Safety Executive: Pandemic Flu: Workplace Guidance [External website]

CDC - Business Pandemic Plan Checklist [External website] - Identifies important, specific activities large businesses can do now to protect employees' health and safety, many of which will help in other emergencies.

WHO Handbook for Journalists: Influenza Pandemic [External PDF, 24 pages, 756KB] - Frequently updated indispensable fact-checking reference. From the WHO Media Centre[External website].

Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health - Bird flu and pandemic influenza: what are the risks? [External website] - regularly updated.

London Flu Pandemic Contingency Plan Prompt Document [PDF, 12 pages, 122KB] - Developed by the London Resilience Team and the Regional Public Health Group to ensure key agencies and organisations have robust business continuity arrangements to maintain essential services in a flu pandemic.