Business continuity and Covid-19

Business contuity awareness week logo

Many will contend that Covid-19 has been, and still is, the biggest business continuity incident in history. 

With the onset of the pandemic, and very little previous experience of such an event, the scale and impact of this global disruption has highlighted the need for clear, unambiguous and pro-active business continuity solutions to be readily available.

Work has been taking place within EEAST to identify areas of improvement and a large part of the work which needs to be done is within the business continuity arena. 

A new Business Continuity Strategy has been developed following feedback from a number of debriefs and questionnaires and this will be published soon. 

The threat of Covid-19 is still very much present and experts say it will not be eradicated entirely in the foreseeable future. Even with the vaccination programme continuing apace and rates of coronavirus going down, another wave of Covid-19 is predicted. 

As part of the business continuity plans and preparedness within the Trust, it is vital that we all continue to follow guidance and rules to reduce the likelihood of further outbreaks or develop a future surge in infection rates. 

Although the East of England average infection rates are falling, there are pockets within our communities which are continuing to see rises in infection rates. With the easing of lockdown, particularly now we are allowed to meet indoors and hug our families and friends, there are a few practical things that we can all do to ensure the resilience of our services.

Hands, face space:

  •    Wash your hands regularly and use the sanitiser provided in all Trust estates and vehicles. Wipe down touch points in offices with the sanitiser wipes frequently and thoroughly.
  •    Wear face coverings in all Trust communal areas and offices where appropriate social distancing is not possible. Take note of the Covid secure risk assessments for each building and vehicle and abide by them.
  •    Maintain a minimum of 1 meter distance from other people and do not make physical contact unless absolutely necessary. Ensure there are no more than the covid safe number of people in a space at any one time.

 Returning to the workplace?

The Trust is engaged in ensuring your workspaces are Covid secure by assessing all sites and reviewing measures put in place to support people in a safe work environment. How we will work in the future will potentially change and your workspaces are unlikely to look the same as before the pandemic. This is because we will need to maintain social distance and take all reasonable actions to protect ourselves, each other and our patients from Covid-19.

Guidance on returning to the workplace will be available soon but in the meantime, the Trust is urging staff to remain working from home unless you are required to be in a Trust owned workspace. If you think you should be returning, or there is a specific reason you feel you need to be back in the workplace, whether personal or professional, please discuss this with your line manager before accessing offices, meeting rooms or communal workspaces.

Test, test, test ….

The Trust is strongly encouraging all staff to take part in the Lateral Flow Testing (LFT) programme.

You can still contract the virus after you have had your vaccination and for those of you who have been isolating, or mainly working from home, now there is more freedom, you might like to consider taking part in this. The test is very simple to do and only takes a couple of minutes a few times per week. The test will enable you to have peace of mind that you are free from the virus. This not only protects our patients and our service, it also protects your families and friends. Further information on LFT and how you can join the programme can be found here or by speaking to your line manager.

Please consider joining this programme as it is the most efficient way of keeping control of the virus within our own organisation and communities.

All current Trust Covid-19 information can be found on East 24 Covid-19 Homepage.

If you are interested in learning more about Business Continuity, please email EEAST.BC@eastamb.nhs.uk and we will add you to our distribution list for further articles and training items.

Published 21st May 2021