Head of Emergency Preparedness Resilience & Response

Job description

Job responsibilities

The post holder will:

Establish effective communication networks and engage with key internal and external stakeholders including Directors, Service Leads, Business Managers, the Estates and Security team and Corporate Senior team

Be required to provide and receive highly complex information which is multi-stranded and requires an ability to engage and motivate relevant stakeholders

Develops and maintains strong, productive professional relationships with other EPRR Leads from a range of agencies

To represent SPFT at local and regional health sector forums, ensuring that SPFT's interests are represented and system discussions are fed back into the Trust for consideration

Advise the Trust on emergency planning and business continuity and develop, deliver, and monitor systems to ensure the Trust can provide an effective emergency response for major incidents, emergencies, disruptive events, and surges in demand

To work closely with Operational and Corporate teams to ensure that any interruption to Trust business or incidents (loss of utilities or IT/digital technology, damage to sites, planned maintenance, infectious outbreaks, Industrial action, major road closures etc.) has an appropriate contingency and is operationally managed effectively

To lead the Trusts EPRR agenda and ensure the Trust discharges its responsibility in relation to the Civil Contingencies Act 2024

To ensure that robust processes are in place to maintain and develop the Trust's EPRR as defined by NHS England EPRR Framework and Standards 2022

Be responsible for leading emergency and resilience planning across the Trust, including Major Incident, Influenza Pandemic, Heatwave, Cold Weather, and service business continuity plans

Be responsible for compiling the Trust annual business plan in relation to EPRR

Develop the strategy for each areaof activity to secure the delivery of EPRR compliance, this will include but is not limited to development, approval, review of all EPRR related plans and policies

To work autonomously, making highly complex decisions daily to meet and achieve defined results.

To ensureSPFT has robust EPRR plans and policies which are tested, effective, up to date and are adequate to respond to all reasonably foreseeable internal and external incidents, national standards, and specialist guidance

Be responsible for the line management of the EPRR team ensuring the Team meet all departmental and Trust objectives in relation to EPRR

Will develop long-term plans that are strategic in nature and involve a high degree of uncertainty due to the subject matter

Accountable for staff and budgetary management relating to EPRR function, this also includes checking and maintaining of all EPRR related equipment

Toensure that SPFT has an appropriate and comprehensive training programme in place in relation to EPRR that meets the required standards.

Toensure SPFT is compliant with NHSE Principles of Health Command training for strategic and tactical commanders

Lead the debriefing process post incident, maintaining a continuous cycle of improvement

Develop and contribute to professional relationships within the Trust, other commissioners, NHS funded organisations and multi-agency partners that facilitate the continual development of local and national EPRR arrangements

Responsible for the design and delivery of the Trusts EPRR functions, maintaining and improving standards of such preparedness across the organisation and providing leadership on specialist emergency preparedness and resilience issues

Toensure the Trust is represented at the local resilience forum and sub-groups, and as required to specific incident or event responses at local, regional, and national level

Be accountable for the design and delivery of highly complex and detailed EPRR training and exercise programs for all staff across the Trust including within CDSs and at headquarters and facilitate their running whilst ensuring that the training material is adapted to meet the requirements of its audience, this will be done in conjunction with multi-agency partners

Work closely with the executive directors and communications teams to ensure appropriate communication and media response by the Trust to significant events and emergencies. This includes highly complex, sensitive, or contentious information

Have in-depth knowledge of and ensure the implementation of Integrated Emergency Management within the Trust

Lead on and work with the Accountable Emergency Officer to ensure that the work stream of emergency preparedness, resilience and response programmes are planned and managed effectively and to take the lead in ensuring their successful delivery

Tolead on the annual EPRR Core Standards self-assessment process

Toensure that information regarding emergency preparedness, resilience and response is properly managed and best practice is continuously developed and shared across the Trust

Tosupport the implementation of business continuity, EPRR processes within strategic Business units

The post holder will be the subject matter expert for the Trust, providing advice, guidance, and support in response to specialised incidents

Tolead and facilitate Trust wide training on developing business continuity plans in line with ISO 22301:12 and including embedding of the processes in day-to-day practice

Todevise and develop tests/exercises to test plans across the Trust

Todevelop and/or review of Polices within the EPRR portfolio and Business Continuity for the Trust. Ensuring the Trust fulfils its legal obligations and responsibilities under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), NHS England Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) Framework 2015, The NHS England Core Standards for Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response, The Health and Social Care Act 2012 and other government planning requirements

To plan, coordinate and facilitate regular exercises in accordance with NHS guidance to test and review the Trusts emergency plans

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to degree level in relevant subject or equivalent level qualification with specialist training to masters or equivalent level
• Recognised training qualification or willingness to work towards (e.g. City & Guilds Level 3 award in education & training, PTTLS, CTLS etc)
• Experience of continuing professional development and other significant training and experience in a workplace setting

Knowledge/Experience

Essential

• Subject matter expertise across a number of key areas relating to EPRR, the Civil Contingencies Act and the Health and Social Care Act.
• Experience of emergency planning and business continuity within an area such as the NHS, CCG or local authority ideally within the NHS.
• Knowledge of resilience legislation and guidance including the Civil Contingencies Act 2004
• Knowledge Demonstrable senior management experience
• Must have an understanding of the background to and aims of current healthcare policy and appreciate the implications of this on engagement.
• Experience of budgetary responsibility, including budget setting with evidence of working knowledge of financial processes.
• Experience of managing of staff/functions
• Should have an appreciation of the relationship between the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement and individual provider and commissioning organisations.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Employer name

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Portland House

Richmond Road

Worthing

BN11 1FG

Employer's website

https://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)