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The assessment has included an assessment of the adequacy of existing resources to do all that is necessary to implement levels 1 and 2 without diverting them from existing commitments. The resources required to implement levels 3 and 4 are a function of the length, severity and geographical spread of a heat wave.There will be no additional resources made available from central departmental budgets for implementation of any level of the Heatwave Plan for England, apart from those already identified to print and distribute copies of the advice leaflets and secure proper surveillance from the Meteorological Office, NHS Direct and the Health Protection Agency. Many of the actions required at level 1 and 2 are being taken anyway as part of normal care, and all of them can reasonably be thought of as essential contributions to emergency planning required by ‘duty of care'.National health service organisations and local authorities are expected to include in their financial planning the need to fund contingencies, of which costs associated with levels 3 and 4 of the Heatwave Plan are an example, along with those arising from, for example, widespread flooding. |