Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) Officer, Band 6

Job overview

The EPRR Officer plays a vital role in ensuring Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is fully prepared for the challenges of emergencies, major incidents, and business continuity disruptions.

Working across the organisation and reporting to the Head of Organisational Resilience, the postholder will help develop, deliver, and continually strengthen the Trust’s Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) arrangements in line with statutory duties, NHS England Core Standards, and local system priorities.

This is an exciting and varied role at the heart of a large acute Trust, where every day brings new opportunities to influence patient safety, operational readiness, and organisational learning.

The postholder will be the face of EPRR to lead and support the development of emergency and business continuity plans, coordinate exercises and training, assist with incident response, and work closely with clinical and operational teams to embed a strong culture of resilience.

We are looking for someone who thrives in a dynamic environment, enjoys problem‑solving, and is passionate about strengthening preparedness across complex healthcare settings.

Gloucestershire Hospitals is an exceptional place to grow your EPRR career — offering the scale and challenge of a major acute Trust, a collaborative and supportive culture, and a genuine commitment to innovation, learning, and doing the right thing for our communities.

Main duties of the job

Emergency Preparedness & Resilience:

Support the development, review, and assurance of emergency plans and business continuity arrangements, ensuring compliance with NHS EPRR standards and readiness for incidents.

Incident Management:

Provide operational support during incidents, including coordinating information, supporting incident coordination centres, maintaining logs, and contributing to debriefs and organisational learning.

Training, Exercising & Learning:

Plan, deliver, and evaluate training and exercises to enhance staff preparedness, while capturing and applying learning from incidents, audits, and national guidance to improve resilience.

Governance & Assurance:

Contribute to reporting, policy development, and governance processes, maintaining accurate records and supporting compliance with statutory and organisational requirements.

Advisory & Cultural Leadership:

Provide expert advice and promote a culture of preparedness, safety, and continuous improvement across the Trust.

Professional Development:

Maintain and develop professional knowledge in EPRR and resilience, participate in training and appraisal, and contribute to organisational learning and education.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Emergency Preparedness, Resilience & Response

- Support the development, maintenance, and regular review of the Trust’s Emergency Plans and Business Continuity arrangements in line with NHS England’s EPRR Core Standards and statutory requirements.

- Coordinate and contribute to annual EPRR assurance processes, including evidence collection, gap analysis, improvement planning, and reporting.

- Assist in preparing the Trust for internal and external incidents, ensuring plans remain current, accessible, and operationally workable.

-Support the Trust’s on‑call teams and operational managers with advice, briefing materials, and guidance relating to emergency response arrangements.

• Incident Response

- Provide operational support during incidents, including staffing or supporting the Trust’s Incident Coordination Centre, producing situation reports, maintaining logs, and coordinating information flows.

-Act as a point of contact for departments during incidents, ensuring consistent communication and prompt escalation where required.

- Assist in post‑incident debriefs, capturing learning and supporting the development of action plans to strengthen resilience.

• Training, Exercising & Organisational Learning

- Organise, deliver, and evaluate EPRR training programmes for staff across the Trust, including incident management training, loggist training, and role‑specific preparation for command teams.

- Lead or support the design and facilitation of exercises (tabletop, command post, live‑play), working with internal teams and multi‑agency partners.

- Capture and analyse learning from incidents, exercises, audits, and national guidance; support the development of learning frameworks and improvement actions.

- Support the collection and analysis of data from exercises, incidents and audits to identify trends, learning themes and opportunities for improvement.

- Contribute to the development and evaluation of new training resources, digital tools or methodologies that enhance incident readiness and staff engagement.

• Business Continuity

- Support the implementation and maintenance of divisional and departmental Business Impact Analyses (BIAs) and Business Continuity Plans (BCPs).

- Help monitor compliance with business continuity requirements, providing guidance and support to operational departments in developing robust continuity arrangements.

- Contribute to risk assessments and organisational resilience activities, ensuring risks are identified, mitigated, and escalated appropriately.

• Partnership Working & Multi‑Agency Engagement

- Develop and maintain effective working relationships with system partners, emergency services, Local Resilience Forum (LRF) colleagues, local authorities, and other NHS organisations.

- Represent the Trust at relevant meetings, user groups, working groups, and exercises as delegated by the Head of Organisational Resilience.

- Support integrated health system planning and ensure alignment between Trust arrangements and wider multi‑agency response structures.

• Assurance, Governance & Reporting

- Produce clear, accurate reports, briefings, dashboards, and documentation to support governance processes.

- Maintain accurate records, logs, and audit trails relating to plans, training, exercises, incidents, and assurance activities.

- Assist with policy development and updates, ensuring they reflect best practice and national guidance.

• General Responsibilities

- Model and promote a culture of proactive preparedness, safety, and organisational resilience across the Trust.

- Provide expert advice to colleagues at all levels, supporting a proactive and informed approach to emergency planning and continuity management.

- Undertake additional duties that may reasonably be required, commensurate with the postholder’s role and grade.

• Professional Development, Education and Training

- Take responsibility for maintaining and developing their own professional knowledge and competencies in Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR), business continuity, and incident management.

- Participate in regular appraisal, supervision, and personal development planning, identifying learning needs and undertaking agreed training to support progression and effectiveness in the role.

- Keep up to date with changes in legislation, national guidance, NHS England EPRR Core Standards, JESIP doctrine, and best practice in civil contingencies and emergency planning.

- Participate in relevant internal and external training courses, conferences, networks or communities of practice to support ongoing professional growth.

- Maintain accurate records of all mandatory training and ensure compliance with Trust requirements.

- Share learning and specialist knowledge with colleagues, helping to promote continuous learning and a culture of resilience across the Trust.

- Contribute to the development of training materials, educational sessions, and awareness‑raising initiatives for staff involved in emergency planning and incident response.

• General Working Conditions

- The postholder will be required to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service, including occasionally adjusting working hours to support training, exercises, or incident response activities.

- Unpredictable or rapidly changing situations may require the postholder to reprioritise tasks and respond at short notice to emerging operational pressures or incidents.

- The role may involve working in a busy office environment, the Trust’s Incident Coordination Centre, or clinical/operational areas as required.

- During periods of heightened activity, such as major incidents or critical business continuity events, the postholder may need to provide extended support until a safe level of service continuity is restored.

- Travel between Trust sites and to external partner locations may be required.

- The postholder is expected to maintain professionalism and composure when working under pressure or in time‑critical situations.