UK Cabinet Office publishes updated ‘Contingency Planning for a Possible Influenza Pandemic’ document

The Cabinet Office has released an updated version of guidance on contingency planning for a possible influenza pandemic, which was first published in May 2005.

The guidance is addressed mainly to Category 1 responders under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 but also provides advice relevant to Category 2 responders and to the wider business community.

The Cabinet Office states that further advice to assist pandemic planning will be issued over the coming months.

The guidance emphasizes the important of the issue, stating that the government judges the possible emergence of an influenza pandemic to be one of the highest current risks to the UK.

Key points from the guidance include:

• As a rough working guide, organisations employing large numbers of people should ensure that their plans are capable of handling staff absence rates of up to 15 percent over the 2-3 week peak of a pandemic (in addition to usual absenteeism levels). Small businesses, or larger organisations with small critical teams, should plan for level of absence rising to 30 percent at peak, perhaps higher for very small businesses with only a handful of employees.

• Planning for the handling of excess deaths should be carried out against both the base case of some 54,000 excess deaths across the UK across the period of the pandemic and the prudent worst case that the number of excess deaths spread across more than one wave may give rise to the need to handle some 350,000 excess deaths in the UK in one wave.

• Key messages from the Government during a pandemic will be that people who are well should carry on with normal, essential activities as far as possible, at the same time taking personal responsibility for self-protection; and that those who are unwell, or think they are unwell should take social responsibility to lessen spread and thus help protect others.

• During a pandemic, the Government will issue specific advice on the full range of potential response policies, based on its understanding of the nature of the virus and its likely impact.

• The main objectives of the Government’s response to an influenza pandemic will be to:

- Limit illness and death arising from infection.

- Provide treatment and care for those who become ill.

- Minimise disruption to health and other essential services.

- Maintain business continuity as far as possible.

- Reduce as far as possible disruption to society.

•Date: 27th Feb 2006• Region: UK • Type: Article •Topic: Pandemic planning
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