Every NHS business activity is at risk of disruption from a variety of threats, which vary in magnitude from catastrophic through to trivial, and include fire, flood, loss of utility supplies and the accidental or malicious damage of assets or resources. For example, a minor electrical fire or a burst water pipe may cause limited damage to assets, but if those assets are vital to service delivery, then the result can seriously impair an NHS organisation’s capability to deliver that service.
In 2007 the Department of Health established the NHS Resilience Project to encourage the spread of best practice in business continuity management (BCM) amongst NHS organisations and to improve resilience to crisis situations and disruptions. Emergency preparedness and business continuity form part of the NHS Operating Framework.
The business continuity template below is a basic format, which has been developed for Suffolk GP practices to achieve compliance with the PMS Development Framework and other Department of Health business continuity requirements. Guidance notes are contained in the text of the plan in red italics. These can be deleted once the plan has been completed.
