Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust fully prepared to cope With a Swine Flu Pandemic

To ensure Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust is fully prepared to cope with a swine flu pandemic the Trust has developed its own plan to deal with this and appointed an executive director as the lead.

The Trust’s pandemic flu plan is in place and has been signed off by the Trust Board.  This is reviewed on a weekly basis.  A communications plan is in place to support the pandemic flu plan and information is readily available via the Trust’s intranet and internet sites.  The Trust also has effective HR policies and practices in place to support resilience.

The Trust meets with colleagues in partner organisations, such as NHS Mid Essex, on a regular basis and has taken part in pandemic flu exercises at PCT and SHA level.  A local pandemic flu exercise will be held at the Trust on Tuesday 22 September to fully test the Trust’s pandemic flu plan.

The Trust has a vaccination programme in place which is managed by the occupational health team.  This programme covers all clinical staff and key workers.