Agenda item

To receive a report on the approach to pandemic preparedness in Haringey including learning from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Introducing the report on this item, Will Maimaris, Director for Public Health, informed the Panel that the definition of a pandemic was an epidemic of an infectious disease beyond a single country and that this was an area that required input from emergency planning colleagues as well as public health.

Ahead of the discussion, Cllr Connor noted that the full plans on pandemic preparedness would not be produced until later in the year. Will Maimaris explained that there were two plans in development, one of which was a multi-agency pandemic response plan led by public health and the other was a separate Council pandemic plan focused on the broader response across Council services. He added that the plans would provide a framework for a response but would not set out the specific details of different possible scenarios.

Will Maimaris and colleagues from public health and emergency planning then responded to questions from the Panel:

• Cllr Connor requested further details about the coordination with hospitals, including on staffing, resilience and PPE equipment. Angharad Shambler, Senior Public Health Strategist, explained that the Hospital Trusts (North Middlesex and Whittington) had their own organisational plans with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) providing overall governance. She also noted that a national pandemic preparedness exercise would be taking place in the autumn, led by the Department of Health and Social Care, and would include actions and learning from the Covid pandemic.
• Asked by Cllr Connor how the potential closure of schools would be managed, Damani Goldstein, Consultant in Public Health, said that the partnership working with the Hospital Trusts and the ICB involved exercises to test responses and that this included schools, with headteachers part of the local planning. There was also some learning from the Covid pandemic on children’s mental health, wellbeing and safety from the recent UK Health Security Agency (UK HSA) national conference. Schools would also be better prepared for online learning and support, though issues such as the needs of children who didn’t have the necessary technology at home would need to be considered as the national and local planning progressed.
• Cllr Iyngkaran raised concerns about the impact of school closures on children and how schools could be supported to stay open. Will Maimaris emphasised the need to minimise any impact on schools, including learning from the Covid pandemic and probably setting the threshold differently for closing schools. A better overall pandemic response could also prevent school closures. However, he also noted that some concerning trends such as school absenteeism, mental health and the impact of social media, all predated the Covid pandemic. Cllr das Neves noted that she had been lobbied during the pandemic to use HEPA air filters in schools but that this kind of measure required national leadership to be implemented.
• Expanding on the issue of planning exercises, Luke Lambert, Emergency Planning & Resilience Manager said that a large national planning exercise was scheduled for August 2025 and that feedback to the UK HSA on the preparation for this was being coordinated through the multi-agency Haringey Resilience Forum. He added that there had been extensive debriefing internally following the Covid pandemic which had not just fed into pandemic planning but also general emergency planning. This learning was captured internally across multiple services and fed through to the Resilience Emergency Planning Board which tracked the necessary actions. He agreed to establish whether the report that resulted from this could be shared more widely. (ACTION)
• Cllr Iyngkaran queried how residents could be provided with accurate information about vaccines to make informed choices given the current levels of misinformation. Damani Goldstein replied that a lot of focused work on vaccinations had been maintained since the Covid pandemic with a programme of health champions. This included work in partnership with voluntary organisations related to communities with low vaccination uptake. Training was also being developed for people working closely with schools to help have more effective conversations about vaccines. Angharad Shambler added that there was a multi-agency vaccination group and close working with the ICB, including clinical leads from primary care. Luke Lambert noted that an important part of communications during large incidences was uniformity and ensuring that messages from national government and the NHS were reinforced locally through various methods and communication channels and disseminated through community outreach groups. There was an internal communications plan that could be used during major incidents.
• Cllr O’Donovan referred to the importance of support for vulnerable groups including older people, people who are isolated and rough sleepers. Damani Goldstein said that, on rough sleeping, there was general agreement on providing housing for everyone but that there were limitations outside of a pandemic situation with insufficient funding locally and that funding had not been provided for this from national level.
• Cllr Peacock expressed concerns about upper age limits for vaccines such as for RSV which meant that people aged 80+ were not eligible to receive them. Will Maimaris commented that RSV vaccine eligibility was based on national policy after trials which had showed poor evidence for effectiveness over the age of 80. This was therefore not something that the Council could influence locally and any change in policy would be from the UK Health Security Agency.
• Helena Kania emphasised the contribution of the local neighbourhood groups that had been set up during the Covid pandemic and also highlighted the approach of some European countries on encouraging all households to keep emergency supplies that could last for 72-hours. Angharad Shambler reiterated that a lot of work was done with health champions to promote preparedness for incidences such as heat waves or cold snaps so this would be relevant to the information and guidance that was currently being worked through. Luke Lambert added that a new community resilience toolkit was being launched by the London Resilience Unit which had a number of recommendations for local authorities around key messaging that could be shared with local communities. There would also be a new Strategic Community Commissioner starting in April who could help in the coordination of community volunteering and resilience during major incidents. Cllr das Neves added that there was existing advice at national level on items that households could store in case of emergencies.
• Cllr Mason asked about readiness to respond on issues that had arisen during the pandemic including violence against women and girls (VAWG) (noting recent recommendations from research by Kings College London) and mental health. Will Maimaris suggested that Cllr Mason send the relevant research to the public health team and added that learning about pandemic responsiveness in these areas would be included in both the VAWG Strategy and the pandemic plans.
• Cllr Mason highlighted the role of mutual aid groups in supporting people in various ways during the pandemic.
• Cllr Mason spoke about the disproportionate impact of Covid on care workers and others in low-income jobs.
• Asked by Cllr Brennan whether a system was still in place to send emergency text messages to residents, Luke Lambert agreed to look into this and provide a written response to the Panel. (ACTION) Angharad Shambler added that testing of texting on severe weather alerts had been carried out for residents who had participated in the Connected Communities service. However, she noted that there were issues about data sharing that needed to be carefully considered in partnership with the information governance teams. There was also work with primary care providers to text residents with particular health conditions who may be vulnerable to severe weather conditions.
• Cllr Brennan highlighted the lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the pandemic. Will Maimaris responded that the Council did not keep a stock of PPE and that this was dealt with through the national and London resilience systems, so this was an area where the Council would want some further assurances.
• Cllr Connor queried the safeguards against fraud that occurred during the pandemic from the public funds to support businesses. Will Maimaris responded that this was an issue for the national inquiry and that he was confident that the Council had used its funds appropriately when procuring necessary items during the pandemic.
• Asked by Cllr Connor about discharge of people with Covid from hospitals to care homes, Will Maimaris said that national policy and learning would contribute to the public health advice and that individual hospitals had business continuity plans to use in the event of a major incident.