MAJOR INCIDENT PLAN - NHS Cumbria

14 NOTIFICATION OF NHS GOLD COMMANDER14.1 Upon notification, the NHS Gold Commander will notify both the Chief Executive andDirector of Public Health, or their nominated deputy that a Major Incident has occurred. It isthe responsibility of the NHS Gold Commander to assess the situation and decide on the levelof response required.14.2 With support from a Gold Control Team (see para 26) the NHS Gold Commander will:• Take overall charge of the organisation to include representing the NHS organisations at theStrategic Coordinating Group;• Make decisions about implementing of NHS Cumbria Major Incident Plan to discharge theLead PCT function in the event of a major incident• Take strategic decisions about deployment of NHS resources. These decisions are taken onbehalf of the NHS North West – who should be advised (and consulted if time permits)• Ensure that all other organisations that need to know about the Incident are informed.• Decide, together with the Major Incident Manager, whether the NHS Cumbria Incident ControlRoom is required• Support the Major Incident Manager by giving authority to his/her decisions• Ensure that lead individuals have been designated to support the Gold Control Team• Ensure continuity of his/her own role for the duration of the incident• Liaise with other Directors to ensure an appropriate balance of priority between themanagement of the incident and the continuity of business• Deploy staff to work on the incident, to work on other non-incident roles to provide backfill, orto continue with their normal duties• Ensure the Chair and Trust Board are appropriately briefed• Ensure that due priority is given subsequently to reviewing the incident and the response to it,and to honouring commitments made during the incident• Maintain a log of his/her own actions and decisions• Ensure that organisations are advised when they can begin to stand down from their incidentresponseNHS CUMBRIAMAJOR INCIDENT PLAN – FRAMEWORK FOR RESPONDING TO A MAJOR INCIDENTPAGE 28 OF 46Version 3 (Dec 2008)