FOI 7378 - emergency planning software for major incidents

May 2022

Freedom of Information Request: reference 7378

Thank you for your recent request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The information you have requested is as follows:

1. Do you use a mass notification system or emergency planning software for major incidents (within EPRR)? This also includes pager systems for notifying employees when a major incident occurs. We do not have or use any mass notification system in Medway NHS Foundation Trust for communicating with staff or external partners for warning/informing/incident response. We have an in-house Pager system for our Resus team and other critical functions for the purposes of providing immediate life-saving treatment following a cardiac arrest for example. If this fails, we revert to using in-house 2-way radios which are distributed via Site office and Switchboard.

If a Major incident is notified to us via an external agency, Switchboard would receive this via the Major Incident telephone number held by system partners and have a METHANE report form to use. There is an escalation protocol to follow, to ensure the alert is delivered appropriately (with slight variances for in and out of hours); through Site team, Senior Manager on Call, EPRR, Director on Call (DoC) and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) – using telephony, radios and in person messaging. The Communications team provide 24/7 on call and can be utilised to disseminate messaging to all staff via email and appropriate external partners, also using our intranet, internet website and a closed Staff group on Social media.

If a Major incident occurs on site, the Deputy COO (in hours) or DoC (OOH) would notify the Clinical Commission Group (CCG) (ICB) via their Tier 1 Director on call pager number.

If yes, please answer the following questions:

1. What company provides the service? N/A

1. Please confirm the value of the initial project and value of annual support/maintenance services (in £)? N/A

1. When is the contract renewal date? N/A

1. Who is the EPRR manager within the Trust? The Head of EPRR recently resigned and the post remains vacant. Current lead contact for EPRR in the Trust is the role of Senior EPRR Officer who reports to the Trust’s Acting Chief Operating Officer

1. Who is the Emergency Accountable Office within the Trust? Sunny Chada, Deputy Chief Operating Officer and current acting Chief Operating Officer