NHS provider DHU Healthcare has earned one of the highest accolades for the way it prepares for a major or critical incident in the East Midlands.
The not for profit, Community Interest Company, provides urgent care, 111, GP and community services and is required to give NHS England assurances over its Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) plans.
This was achieved, meeting an impressive 53 of the 55 standards, a compliance rate of 96% which rates DHU as ‘Substantially Compliant’.It means that whether responding to an infectious disease outbreak, extreme weather or a major local or national emergency, it demonstrates that DHU Healthcare has plans in place to ensure that services can continue to be provided safely for its people and patients.
Pauline Hand is Managing Director of DHU111 as well as DHU’s Accountable Emergency Officer during the assessment period, she said: “This is a significant achievement for any health provider, particularly pleasing as we have achieved incredibly high standards at a time that has seen NHS England revise the criteria and introducing an additional 18 standards. The last time we were assessed in 2021, we achieved 33 out of 37 standards which is 89%, just within the boundaries of ‘Substantially Compliant’, so to not only consolidate those figures but improve on them is very encouraging.”
The domains assessed cover a range of criteria including leadership, assigned budget, business continuity and EPRR planning and testing of plans, On Call support, staff training and awareness, the ability of an organisation to work effectively within a partnership, communication to staff and the public, plans for CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) and other scenarios.
The assessment is very similar to a Care Quality Commission assessment, looking at an organisation’s ability to function properly during a business continuity or major incident within the health community.
Wider system severely tested
Pauline added: “We take our responsibilities as a provider of NHS services very seriously at a time when the wider health system has been severely tested. Whether it’s unprecedented high demand over Winter, industrial action that is a current threat to business continuity or the recent pandemic, we are acutely aware of how important it is to have a robust and effective plan.
“We are very proud of how we communicate with our colleagues to keep them informed at times of increased pressure and how our services are coping with demand. We also reach out to the wider public to manage expectations of our services, where to go for the right treatment and also to our health partners to support them where we can during challenging period of demand. These plans and our response to the recent pressures are embedded in how we work and we will continue to evolve and improve our current plans to work towards that ‘Fully Compliant’ 100% goal.”
Every part of DHU Healthcare contributed to this achievement and it serves as reassurance to the public and wider health system that its services will stand up under the severe pressure of an unplanned incident.
Our commitment to quality
Chief Executive Stephen Bateman added: “This is tremendous news and a testament to the work done on a daily basis by those within all of our services from our front line clinical and 111 services right through all of our back-office support functions. Having already achieved the ISO standards focusing on quality and information, this is another mark that shows our commitment to quality, security and commitment to providing a caring and compassionate service to our patients. Every person at DHU Healthcare has a role to play in how our services provide the best quality care for our patients and how we fit into the system in our role as a provider.
“We have to provide documented evidence of our preparedness, showcase the resilience of all of our systems and maintain levels of good practice. We set the bar very high last time and built on that with a remarkable 96% compliance this time. Ensuring we are prepared and ready for worst case scenarios or the unexpected is a responsibility held by every single one of us at DHU Healthcare and to show that we have risen to it together is something of which I am very proud.
“I would particularly like to thank Programme Manager Christine Mills for pulling our submission together and Pauline, who has since stepped down in her role as Accountable Emergency Officer to concentrate on our upcoming West Midlands 111 contract. They have both done an amazing job in getting us to this stage, achieving ‘Substantially Compliant’ twice in a row in such challenging circumstances is a wonderful achievement. I will be taking on the role of Accountable Emergency Officer on an interim basis until we can appoint a permanent successor.
“But most of all I’d like to thank to everybody who contributed, and there are too many to mention, to our submission that earned us this accolade. It is now up to us to maintain those standards and build on these solid foundations.”