Agenda item

J Burrows, Executive Director of Public Health and Communities, attended to present the strategic risk concerning Health Protection Emergency.

It was explained that robust arrangements were required to deal with health protection emergencies - both those already known and those that may arise in the future. Such arrangements were flexible and responsive to deal with emerging threats as well as being able to immediately respond to emergency unforeseen issues.  

Action 1 was rated as green, and Action 2 and Action 3 were rated as amber.

In the ensuing discussion the following key points were noted:

·        In regard to Action 1, all Health Protection Plans were reviewed and tested and reflected health protection issues.

·        The response to Action 2 was underway, with a multi-agency health protection board in place to deal with any potential health emergencies in vulnerable populations.

·        Action 3 was ongoing with lessons learned debriefing which would be shared as necessary with South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Health Resilience Partnership and South Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum.

·        It was noted that Barnsley benefits from a strong multi-agency response to health emergencies and that learning from the Covid-19 pandemic was becoming embedded.

·        Members passed on their thanks to J Burrows and her team for the strong leadership and response during the Covid-19 pandemic.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.