Swine Flu – The time to plan your organisation’s resilience is now

As at 6th August the Health Protection Agency (HPA) stated "there is a clear indication that the number of cases in England has decreased significantly in the last week. Weekly GP consultation rates decreased over the last week in England, coinciding with the first full week of operation of the National Pandemic Flu Service.  The majority of cases continue to be mild. There is no sign that the virus is changing. It is not becoming more severe or developing resistance to anti-virals.”

Although producing reliable estimates is very challenging with the move from GP consultations to the National Pandemic Flu Service, HPA modelling gives an estimate of 30,000 new cases in England last week.  This figure demonstrates a decrease in estimated number of cases in all age groups and in all regions.
 
However for those who do get infected the general trend is for higher infection rates amongst the young.  With the need for carers to take time off, absence rates from work through illness or caring for the sick could be in the region of 12% (Business Advisory Network for Flu www.businesslink.gov.uk ).  It makes sense that now is the time to review your business continuity plans to avoid disruption.  How will your organisation cope, how are your suppliers and partner organisations planning to manage and will more people be calling on your services?

There are a few basic steps to be considered…..

• Identify those activities and services you provide and depend on that are critical. These could include your frontline social services, revenue and benefits, housing and others.  Be honest in your assessment, everything is important, what services are vital?
• Not only will you be managing with fewer staff, for your service users it is also unlikely to be business as usual.  What services will be in greater demand e.g. social care.
• Consider how many people are required to run a base level of service.  Ask those on the frontline who know the service well.  Your biggest need will be people to run the service.  Where can you find a reserve of people to fill the gaps on a temporary basis?
• Consider the mundane things now.  If you are transferring staff in from another department will they be able to access the IT systems.  Consider setting up temporary security access in advance of any staff shortage.  Do you need to train staff now in case they are needed?
• Don’t just consider in-house services.  What about your partners who deliver a service on your behalf?  Have they got a robust business continuity plan in place?  If they work for many organisations, will you get the support you need or will others be given priority?
• Is everyone aware of your business continuity plan and when it will be invoked?

Here, at Zurich, we have a wealth of experience to support your organisation to build a strong level of resilience.  For more information on the latest swine flu news refer to www.direct.gov.uk or contact your Zurich representative to see how we can help.

For additional information click onto the Local Government Chronicle website.

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