We’re committed to developing and maintaining resilient service provision

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust has a responsibility, as a Category 1 responder, to be prepared to respond to a wide range of incidents and emergencies that could affect health or patient care. This could include:

  • A period of severe pressure
  • Extreme weather
  • A business continuity, critical or major incident
  • An outbreak of an infectious disease

We’re committed to developing and maintaining resilient service provision and take a proactive approach to Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR).

In the event of a local or national emergency, the Trust aims to:

  • Provide care for incident casualties
  • Continue to deliver critical services
  • Support the emergency services
  • Recover from the incident quickly and embed learning gained from the incident.
  • Ensure the safety of our staff

The Trust's duty to deliver EPRR is detailed in the NHS Standard Contract and the NHS England EPRR Framework. In addition to this, we are measured annually against 10 domains as outlined within the NHS Core Standards for EPRR.

The Adverse Weather and Health Plan (AWHP) delivers the UKHSA commitment under the National Adaptation Programme to develop a single plan, bringing together and improving current guidance on weather and health.

The MET Office have published free weather-ready resources which provide expert seasonal advice to help you respond to the weather and to stay safe and protect yourself.

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust undertakes an annual EPRR assurance process to ensure that NHS-funded member organisations are compliant with the Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) Core Standards published on the NHS England website.

CDDFT submitted an assessment of Substantial Compliance.