As an NHS organisation, we are responsible for supporting emergency services and the local authority in the event of a major incident as well as continuing to ensure our own services are provided appropriately.

We prepare and maintain emergency plans to ensure that we can respond to emergencies such as a communicable disease outbreak, widespread flooding, a chemical release in the community, and so on.

The health of the local population is our responsibility and we take our obligation to protect health in the event of a major incident very seriously.

A major incident could occur at any time and with little or no warning so we ensure that our staff are trained and able to respond in the event of an emergency.  We maintain close links with our partner agencies and patients in order to ensure that our plans are effective and robust.

Part of our responsibilities is to develop a major incident plan and you can see ours below.  It explains the background to and nature of major incidents and our planned response.

Major Incident Response Plan

Emergency planning links and useful information

Local Category 1 responders:

Colchester Borough Council 

Tendring District Council

Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust

Essex Police

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service

East of England Ambulance Service

Other local stakeholders involved in emergency planning within the PCT:

NHS Direct

Essex University

National emergency planning partner organisations: