Covid-19 critical incident plan launched in Northamptonshire today

An incident room is being set up at the county council's headquarters and staff could be deployed to other areas to help respond to the outbreak.
There are now six confirmed cases in Northamptonshire including at a Desborough care home.There are now six confirmed cases in Northamptonshire including at a Desborough care home.
There are now six confirmed cases in Northamptonshire including at a Desborough care home.

Northamptonshire County Council has today (March 12) launched a critical incident plan, which will see an incident room set up and could involve staff being deployed to other areas to help cope with the coronavirus outbreak.

In the last hour chief executive Theresa Grant has emailed all staff at the authority to say a response to covid 19 is being enacted today. The county currently has six confirmed cases of coronavirus, including at a care home in Desborough and a girls school in Kettering.

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The council, like all county and unitary authorities, is responsible for emergency planning.

An incident room is being set up at One Angel Square in Northampton.An incident room is being set up at One Angel Square in Northampton.
An incident room is being set up at One Angel Square in Northampton.

The email says: “I am writing to let you know that in the light of the escalating situation concerning covid-19 the council has taken the decision to initiate the Critical Incident Plan and therefore the Critical Incident Policy in order to begin mobilising resources in support of both multi-agency and county council planning and co-ordination.

This decision is not intended to alarm staff, simply to enable the council to best direct and use resources and to co-ordinate plans so that we are ready to deal with reasonable worst case scenarios, if they occur.

This means that over the coming days and weeks some NCC staff may need to be redeployed from their day to day duties to support the response to and /or recovery from the critical incident.

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The Senior Leadership Team have been asked to give urgent consideration to which staff may be required to redeploy, including which services can be scaled back or postponed in the short term at least. Please be assured that any plans which may affect you will be fully discussed and communicated to you by your manager/Head of Service at the earliest possible time.

NCC chief executive Theresa Grant sent out an email to staff at 1.30pm today.NCC chief executive Theresa Grant sent out an email to staff at 1.30pm today.
NCC chief executive Theresa Grant sent out an email to staff at 1.30pm today.

It is also very likely that some staff will be required from early next week to support the Multi-Agency Incident control functions at the CCG site at Francis Crick House, Moulton as well as a new incident control room which being set up at One Angel Square to triage calls from concerned service-users and customers. Work is underway to agree how this will be resourced and again, any impacted employees will be fully communicated with.

It was reported in the press yesterday that a support worker from a Northamptonshire Care Home (Heather Holmes, Desborough) has tested positive to COVID-19. We wanted to assure you that NASS are aware and are working with the provider and Public Health England.

Public Health England’s contract tracing team have identified and contacted anyone who has been in close contact with the individual concerned, offering appropriate advice and support.

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It is important to remember that this decision does not immediately change anything in your normal day to day role unless your manager confirms anything different. You should however ensure that you have read and understood the critical incident policy.

There are currently no plans to review any annual leave requests at this time although this will continue to be monitored as the situation progresses.

We appreciate this may be a concerning time for staff but please rest assured this is a proactive measure to ensure that the council is fully prepared for managing the possible implications of the situation.

As a local authority body we need to ensure that we are in the best possible position to deliver our critical activities. Success in managing this situation will hinge not only on the delivery of an efficient and effective response but also on building and maintaining a public perception of an effective response.”

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The Government is expected to step up its response to the virus soon and move into the delay phase as the number of confirmed cases rises- which could involve forced social isolating and closing schools. Today the Republic of Ireland announced it is closing schools and colleges.