§ Dr. Richard TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans have been made for the reception of casualties if a major disaster occurs in Wyre Forest. [11188]
§ Mr. HuttonWe are determined to ensure that the national health service is in as strong a position as possible to handle major incidents and we have recently asked senior NHS doctors and managers to review their arrangements for major incidents.
In line with Government guidance, Worcestershire has a comprehensive major incident plan in place for a range of possible scenarios. The plan has been developed in collaboration with health services across Worcestershire and involving all the emergency services and the local authority emergency planning departments.
Past experiences of major disasters in this country and abroad suggest that hospitals and minor injury centres both within Worcestershire and outside the district could be deployed depending on the scale of the disaster and the nature of injuries sustained. The Government's recent guidance to health authorities on major incident planning procedures is designed to heighten awareness as a precautionary measure and forms part of the Department's on-going work on medical countermeasures for biological incidents.