Guidance

Annexe F: UKHSA incident response roles

Updated 15 January 2025

Background

Responding to health security incidents is UKHSA’s day-to-day business activity.  The agency has a risk based, all threats approach to escalation from a business as usual Routine response, up to a severe response for pandemic, and so on.  To achieve this, the agency responds collectively by co-operating between appropriate functions, groups and with external partners to activate its Incident Response Plan, which is supported by threat specific plans.

The national Incident Response Plan (IRP) is UKHSA’s over-arching, agency-wide response plan that outlines the arrangements for the agency’s response to all hazards and threats, including:

• infectious diseases

• pandemic

• chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN)

• extreme and adverse weather events

• business continuity

• cyber security

The IRP applies across the whole of the agency and is supported by a number of threat-specific plans that provide additional detail.

At the local, regional level UKHSA’s teams engage with partners through structures including Local Resilience Forums (LRFs), Local Health Resilience Partnerships (LHRPs) and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to discharge statutory duties and shared objectives at the local level. The agency contributes to the shared understanding of risk by coordinating advice to LRF and LHRP risk registers, drawing on subject matter expertise from across the agency. The UKHSA’s Regional Teams work collaboratively on:

• preparing, developing, and maintaining specific regional response plans

• internal and external training and exercising

• the mobilisation of Science and Technical Advice Cells (STACs) to support a LRF Strategic Co-ordinating Group (SCG)

• developing local response capabilities including supporting the commissioning of frontline clinical and other services that are critical to the delivery of public health emergency response

• the appropriate sharing of intelligence to support decision-making in preparing for and responding to incident and emergencies, including situation reporting and dissemination of briefings across regional teams and to local stakeholders

• leading the response to public health incidents at the local and regional levels in partnership with directors of public health, escalating as appropriate within the National Incident Response Plan

• convening an outbreak control team to manage the local multi-agency response to an outbreak of a communicable disease.

UKHSA’s national and local incident response roles are defined in the agency’s suite of EPRR preparedness and response plans and the purpose of this annexe is to collate and describe these appointments. All the roles are temporary for the duration of the incident, including the recovery and lessons identified phase.

National incident response roles

Strategic Response Director (SRD)

Outline role  

SRD leads UKHSA’s strategic response to an incident and is the senior decision maker for enhanced- or severe-level incidents. They provide the overall strategic direction for the incident within the context of the wider resource, capacity, public health objectives of the agency and leads on cross-government liaison. An on-call SRD is available 24/7 via on call arrangements to support strategic decision making in response to an acute situation. A dedicated SRD is only required during an Enhanced or Severe level response.

Response plan  

UKHSA Incident Response Plan v2.0

Role requirements

• member of UKSHA Executive Committee (ExCo) or Senior Civil Service Level 2 (SCS2) director general

• incident director with significant experience of enhanced incident response

• Chief Executive’s (CEX’s) agreement

Training

Completion of UKHSA’s SRD course and Cabinet Office Crisis Management Excellence Programme (CMEP), for possible attendance at COBR (Civil Contingencies Committee).

Incident director (ID)

Outline role

ID leads UKHSA’s tactical response to an incident and is the senior decision maker for Standard Incidents. For national Routine and Standard level incident response the ID provides overall leadership, decision making and accountability. For Enhanced level response the ID provides tactical and operational leadership, whilst the SRD provides strategic oversight and direction.

Response plan  

UKHSA Incident Response Plan v2.0.

Role requirements

The ID role requires competence and confidence. Whilst it is not grade dependent, one might associate the necessary skills with an individual who is in a senior leadership appointment (or has recent experience) and who has significant operational experience of a complex response. UKHSA’s mission puts health security at the agency’s ‘centre of gravity’ and whilst the majority of responses can be categorised as clinical or scientific, all threats and hazards have the potential to impact on the public’s health. Therefore the majority of IDs should be public health trained. However, a number of other specialists are required to ensure an all threats and hazards approach.

The role also requires the Chief Scientific Officer or Chief Medical Advisor’s agreement.

Training

Essential training comprises:

• completion of UKHSA’s national ID course

• subsequent shadowing and active participation in the ID cohort for continuous improvement

• options for completion of Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside (MAGIC), CMEP and other EPRR continuous development courses

• the National Response Centre (NRC) will manage the ID cohort to ensure and promote continuous development, including peer to peer support

IMT Cell Lead

Outline role

IRP describes a number of core and supporting cells that are available to support a incident and the ID will decide which cells are required. Cells can be used to support an incident at any response level and their activity will be coordinated and led by a cell lead. Cells will provide detailed expert review of the operational and/or technical information to support the response, which will be summarised at the Incident Management Team meetings.

Response plan  

UKHSA Incident Response Plan v2.0.

Role requirements

• specialist expert in the appropriate cell function, as described in the specific cell terms of reference (ToR)

• ID’s agreement

Training

Cell leads are identified from a pool of trained individuals documented within the completed cell ToRs, which are held by the NRC.

Local or regional incident response roles 

Incident director

Outline role

This is similar to the national ID role but is limited in scope to routine incidents and/or the operational response with a single region.

Response plan 

Appropriate regional response plan

Role requirements

• as for the national ID, but with a particular emphasis on public health training – specialist scientific and/or other advice can be requested from UKHSA’s national teams

• Regional Deputy Director’s agreement

Training

• the ambition is that regional IDs will attend the national ID training, which would then be supplemented by local or regional training

• options for completion of MAGIC, CMEP and other EPRR continuous development courses

STAC Chair

Outline role 

To ensure timely coordinated scientific and technical advice during the response to an emergency, responders that are members of the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) can establish a Scientific and Technical Advisory Cell (STAC) to provide advice to the Strategic Coordination Group (SCG) when required. The establishment of a STAC is likely to be particularly important where there may be significant wider health and environmental consequences.

The STAC should bring together technical experts from those agencies involved in the response and who may provide scientific and technical advice to the Strategic Commander. The purpose of the cell would be to ensure that, as far as possible, scientific or technical debate was contained within the cell so that the SCG (and others involved in the response) received the best possible advice based on the available information in a timely, coordinated and understandable way.

Response plan 

National STAC guidelines are provided by Cabinet Office.

Role requirements

• senior UKHSA specialist

• Regional Deputy Director’s agreement

Training

• completion of UKHSA’s STAC Chair training course

• options for completion of MAGIC, CMEP and other EPRR continuous development courses

Outbreak Control Team Chair

Outline role 

The purpose of the Outbreak Control Team (OCT) is to agree and coordinate the activities involved in the investigation, management, and control of a communicable disease outbreak.  The OCT will routinely comprise of the local Director of Public Health (DPH), local Environmental Health Officer and UKHSA public health specialists (including Consultant in Health Protection ((CHP)), Consultant Epidemiologist ((CE)), Consultant in Communicable Disease Control ((CCDC)) ), with the option to include appropriate additional members, such as Care Quality Commission, Food Standards Agency, Animal and Plant Health Agency, NHS Integrated Care Board representative, and so on.

Response plan

Communicable Disease Outbreak Management: Operational Guidance

Role requirements

The chair of the OCT should be appointed at the first meeting; this will usually be the CHP, CE or DPH, although it may be another OCT member if appropriate.

OCT membership, ToR and meeting templates are provided in the outbreak management operational guidance.

Training 

As the primary focus of the OCT is the implementation of the appropriate health protection measures at the operational level and the Chair will always be a qualified health protection specialist, there is no requirement for any additional specific EPRR training to act as the OCT Chair.

EPRR tactical advisor

Outline role

Tactical advisors provide input into UKHSA’s tactical response by providing tactical advice on incident response arrangements and coordination to the senior decision maker. 

Response plan 

UKHSA National/Regional Incident Response Plan v2.0

Role requirements

Detailed knowledge of relevant local, regional and national EPRR single and multi-agency plans

Training

• completion of UKHSA’s relevant EPRR training

• options for completion of MAGIC, CMEP and other EPRR continuous development courses

National specialist incident response roles

Background 

In addition to our national and regional response arrangements, UKHSA has a range of scientists and EPRR personnel that provide expert public health advice for incidents involving Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN), Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) and extreme and adverse weather incidents or natural events.

Extreme events and health protection (EEHP) team

Outline role

The EEHP team is part of the Centre for Climate Health Security within the Science Directorate, they are a national focal point for building resilience and promoting climate change adaptation to adverse weather events . EEHP is responsible for the development and delivery of the Adverse Weather and Health Plan (AWHP) and the impact based weather-health alerts, that underpins the AWHP. The team provide specialist advice and guidance for cross-government support, and undertake strategic and response activities, in partnership with local and national partners on a wide range of programmes to protect public health.

EEHP has an important cross-government role in providing leadership on public health security for adverse weather events in England and in sharing technical information with other responders.

EEHP’s role in response

EEHP provides public health specialist advice related to adverse weather events and undertakes strategic and response activities, in partnership with local and national partners on a wide range of programmes to protect public health. The team undertakes surveillance and early recognition of adverse weather events.

EEHP provides strategic and operational planning advice and coordinate cross-government emergency response during weather health alerts. It supports health and social care response-activities during weather alerts and provide guidance and resource material for dissemination.

EEHP issues communications across media channels to brief the public on ways to adapt their behaviour to protect themselves and others from weather-related harm.

EEHP provides on call service for follow up of the implementation of the Weather Health Alert System and related Joint Dynamic Risk Assessments (for calls between Met Office Environment Monitoring and Response Centre (EMARC) and UKHSA), and related communication work on enquiries, and response coordination.

EEHP contributes to joint dynamic risk assessments, Lead Government Department meetings, COBR meetings, SAGE and STAC during escalated weather alerts and adverse weather incidents. Provides updates to relevant government agencies on response actions and resources, and contribute to debrief sessions to ameliorate response functions. EEHP contributes to NRC activities and response.

Chair Weather Health Alerting (WHA) Joint Dynamic Risk Assessment (JDRA)

Outline role

To issue weather health alerts

Response plans

Adverse Weather and Health Plan and relevant plans

Role requirements 

Relevant specialist knowledge and skills and member of the EEHP team in the following roles:

• UKHSA EEHP public health consultant

• UKHSA EEHP senior emergency preparedness manager

Training 

EEHP internal training on relevant SOPs, plans and protocols.

Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (RCE) – Environmental Hazards and Emergencies Department (EHE)

Outline role 

The RCE Directorate is one of UKHSA’s specialist services and is the focal point for expert authoritative advice on health risks from exposure to chemicals and environmental hazards.

The Environmental Hazards and Emergencies Department (EHE) supports the UKHSA response to chemical and environmental incidents, ensuring resilient and scalable emergency preparedness and response arrangements, maintaining systems and facilities in readiness for a wide range of chemical and environmental public health emergencies.

Response plan 

UKHSA RCE Chemical Incident Response Plan provides details of how EHE responds to chemical and environmental hazards incidents.

Role requirements

• defined operational knowledge and skills

• meets the required core chemical EPRR competencies commensurate to the role

• experience and understanding of UKHSA’s and other organisations roles and responsibilities when responding to acute and chronic incidents involving chemicals and environmental hazards which could impact on public health

• national ID training, appropriate national security vetting clearance for cohort of senior EHE staff

Training

• relevant SOPs, plans and protocols

• training in line with EHE core competencies framework defined by role

• specialist training in chemical and environmental hazards, including exercise attendance

• national ID training to ensure a cohort are available on the rota to lead and brief on large incidents, including single point of contact (SPOC) for senior UKHSA staff, national ID, appropriate national security vetting for CBRN incidents