11. FORWARD PLANNING
11.1 The Communications Strategy outlines what should happen in the event of an outbreak. However, there are a range of measures, including systems, material and data that can be put in place in advance of an outbreak that will make implementation of the Strategy easier and more effective. These systems and materials will need to be reviewed and updated as necessary.
Pre-prepared material
11.2 A range of pre-prepared material for key notifiable diseases is maintained by Scottish Government with some of this already available on the website. While every disease outbreak will be different it will be possible to draft a significant amount of material in advance, which will only require some amendment in the event of an outbreak. Pre-prepared materials include:
- disease specific Key Brief documents;
- letters to farmers/abattoirs/market organisers etc;
- advice leaflets for producers/veterinarians;
- posters;
- copy for editorial platforms.
Advance coordination with operational partners
11.3 It is essential to develop an understanding of how other organisations will respond in an outbreak. It will be important to liaise with operational partners in advance of any disease outbreak to ensure that their contingency planning arrangements dovetail with those of the Scottish Government, including the Communications Strategy. Building a clear mutual understanding of roles and responsibilities in advance will foster a coordinated communications response in the event of a disease outbreak.
Advance coordination of stakeholders
11.4 During any disease outbreak information will enter the public domain from a variety of sources and much of this will flow from stakeholder organisations. These bodies have an important role in reinforcing Scottish Government messages as well as communicating to their own members and audiences. Scottish Government's AHW Division has well established and clear lines of communication with Scottish stakeholders and is committed to an ongoing two-way communications process throughout the year. As part of the development of the Communications Strategy, independent consultants were commissioned to produce a matrix of principal groups who will have communications needs within a disease situation (see Appendix G for the Communications Matrix).
Resourcing
11.5 The Scottish Government's contingency planning arrangements make a commitment to additional resource being provided to AHW Division/ RPID as required to safeguard staff welfare. This emergency cadre of staff will be made available from elsewhere within Scottish Government to provide support on all aspects of the disease response including communications. This means that staff can be rotated as appropriate to safeguard welfare.
11.6 Communications Rural Affairs and Environment will aim to retain a knowledge base in terms of experience in responding to a disease outbreak. Communications Officers will also spend time with policy teams in normal conditions in order to increase their understanding of the policy and veterinary issues.
Training
11.7 Several practice exercises have taken place over recent years to test contingency plans and procedures. Conducting exercises with the sole focus on communications aspects of a disease response will also be useful. This will provide people with a rehearsal of their role and would test the Communications Strategy to identify any issues or gaps. There is also potential for widening involvement in exercises to include operational partners, stakeholders or the media.
Post-outbreak wash-ups
11.8 When conducting post-outbreak wash-ups it will be important to get the views of all who were involved in disease control and consequence management activities, including those of stakeholders. This will allow organisations to identify issues relevant to their own strategies and may help explain why certain procedures were not implemented.