Guidance

Toolkit 1: UKHSA structures and functions

Published 21 January 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/communicable-disease-outbreak-management-guidance/toolkit-1-ukhsa-structures-and-functions

This toolkit provides a summary of the structures and functions of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in relation to local outbreak management. For more information, see the UK Health Security Agency homepage.

Regional UKHSA services

Health protection teams

UKHSA has health protection teams (HPTs) located within 9 regional teams:

  • North East
  • North West
  • Yorkshire and the Humber
  • East Midlands
  • East of England
  • West Midlands
  • South East
  • South West
  • London

UKHSA HPTs lead the UKHSA’s response to local health-related incidents. They provide specialist support to prevent and reduce the impact of:

  • infectious diseases
  • chemical and radiation hazards
  • major emergencies linked to health hazards

UKHSA HPTs can support with:

  • local disease surveillance
  • maintaining alert systems
  • investigating and managing health protection incidents and outbreaks

Further information about UKHSA HPTs can be found by on the Contacts: UKHSA health protection teams page.

UKHSA Field Services

UKHSA Field Services (FS) is a nationally coordinated, but geographically dispersed team. It includes epidemiologists, public health microbiologists, and scientists. They specialise in:

  • communicable disease surveillance
  • public health microbiology
  • outbreak response
  • research

FS do field response activities (for example: field epidemiology). They work with UKHSA HPTs to investigate and control outbreaks and incidents. This includes providing expert advice to local and regional partners for incidents not led by UKHSA. Regional FS teams lead the collection and analysis of data during incidents within UKHSA regional areas. They also contribute to the national incident response.

The Rapid Investigation Team (RIT) within FS can provide a rapid operational response for large or complex incidents. For example: biological sample collection, questionnaire development, and data collection. The RIT may be involved in regional or national incidents.

UKHSA regional communications

Communications teams are embedded within the 9 UKHSA regional teams and provide:

  • bespoke media relations
  • stakeholder communications
  • social media
  • digital assets
  • publications advice
  • incident response communications

for each UKHSA region. The regional communications teams work with local authorities and communities to inform national comms in response to local issues and outbreaks.

Border Health

UKHSA HPTs plan for, and respond to, all-hazard incidents at ports of entry (PoE). This includes aircraft, trains and vessels entering the UK. They are supported by a national UKHSA Border Health team. Together with regional and national teams, they provide a resilient response service for border health incidents and issues and work closely with internal and external partners regionally and nationally. Within UKHSA HPTs, Border Health leads provide leadership and oversight for border health in their geographic area. They work with local stakeholders, including:

  • port health authorities
  • port operators
  • vessel or aircraft operators
  • Border Force
  • UKHSA national Border Health colleagues

to deliver the UKHSA’s responsibilities.

National UKHSA services

UKHSA Chief Medical Advisor Group

The UKHSA Chief Medical Advisor Group includes the UKHSA regional teams and Field Services teams described above. This is in addition to national specialist teams. These teams collect, analyse, and communicate data on outbreaks of communicable disease. They are also involved in outbreak prevention and control at a national level in England. Where appropriate, experts from these teams may assist in local outbreak investigations or, in the case of outbreaks with a national distribution, may lead the design of outbreak investigations.

UKHSA Chief Science Officer Group

The UKHSA Chief Science Officer (CSO) Group includes specialised microbiology and laboratory services, including the UKHSA reference laboratories, regional laboratories, and specialist high containment microbiological and biological services. The CSO Group also coordinates the Specialist Microbiology Network (SMN). Services delivered by the reference laboratories includes whole genome sequencing. UKHSA’s regional laboratories deliver specialist public health and microbiological diagnostic services and provide scientific and medical advice to incidents and outbreaks.

UKHSA Chief Operating Officer Group

The UKHSA Chief Operating Officer Group includes a range of teams supporting work across UKHSA. It also has teams focused on health protection strategy and policy and national communications.

UKHSA Chief Data Officer Group

The UKHSA Chief Data Officer (CDO) Group includes teams responsible for UKHSA’s technology and data infrastructure. It is focused on providing a secure and modern environment in which public health experts can do their jobs. The CDO Group provides professional leadership for data analysis and data science techniques in the agency and leads the single assessment of all health security hazards to the population’s health.

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