UHNM Staff to Undergo Major Incident Training

Hospital staff from University Hospitals of North Midlands are set to take part in major incident training exercise to test their response to a chemical incident.

On Tuesday (24 June 2025) Royal Stoke University Hospital staff including emergency department doctors, nurses, porters and managers will respond to a simulated incident as if it were real.  The exercise will be repeated on Friday (27 June 2025) at County Hospital, Stafford. 

Under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, organisations which are classed as Category 1 responders, including acute hospital trusts, must test their major incident response plans regularly, and carry out a live exercise at least once every three years.

The exercise will run throughout Tuesday afternoon at the Royal Stoke and again on Friday morning at County Hospital, during which time patients and visitors to the site may see some unusual activity.

John Dodds, emergency preparedness, resilience and response (EPRR) said: "The exercise at both of our hospitals will see staff across various departments respond to a simulated chemical incident.

"We can’t share too much information ahead of the event, as it’s vital that those taking part respond as they would in a real-life situation, but the whole idea is to test the plans and procedures we have now to see if they work and identify where any changes may need to be made."

Mr Dodds said the exercise would not affect any routine appointments and the Trusts Emergency Departments would remain open.

Volunteers will be positioned at key locations across the hospital site to reassure visitors and ensure patients arriving are able to access emergency care and appointments as normal.