Major incident declared in Northamptonshire

07 January 2022

A major incident has been declared in Northamptonshire by health, public and emergency service leaders in response to the latest impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the county.

Northamptonshire Local Resilience Forum – made up of multiple agencies such as NHS organisations, local authorities, Fire and Rescue Service and the Police – made the announcement today in response to rising demand on services and staffing levels caused by the pandemic.

Calling a major incident bolsters health and public services ability to join forces and co-ordinate activity to help continuity of essential services and help manage and plan for sustained pressure caused by COVID-19 on staffing levels.

“There is already exceptional working together between partners to help the county face up to this challenge. Declaring this incident is a necessary step to make sure we are able to share resources where necessary which is increasingly important as more staff need to self-isolate.”Chief Fire Officer Darren Dovey, Chair of the Local Resilience Forum

“Staff across both public and private care homes are already stretched, and absences due to COVID-19 transmission are growing in number.

“We will need to look to redeploy staff from other duties to help manage this emerging situation, and all of our services will be very stretched during the coming weeks, so we would ask everyone to please be patient with us.”Cllr Jonathan Nunn, Leader of West Northamptonshire Council

“We would like to reassure our community that urgent services and time-critical procedures will continue, and we will contact anyone whose treatment is delayed – rebooking appointments once affected services can safely be reinstated. 

“Our community can help us help them by ensuring they are seeking help from the most appropriate health services, and only visiting A&E for serious accidents and emergencies. If you are unwell, visit NHS 111 online for 24/7 advice about the most appropriate care for your needs. 

“Anyone who is not yet fully vaccinated is urged to book in their jab as soon as possible to protect themselves and their families and reduce pressure on health services.”Toby Sanders, Chief Executive, NHS Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Group