| 18 November 2025
In 2024/25, NHS England recorded 217 declared incidents, a sharp increase from 131 the year before. These incidents ranged from cyberattacks and IT outages to supply shortages, industrial action, and even a fire in the imaging department at Bristol Royal Infirmary after a power outage.
Despite the statutory obligation under EPRR (emergency preparedness, resilience, and response), underpinned by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the Health and Care Act 2022, these incidents highlight persistent vulnerabilities in emergency preparedness. For example:
- A cyberattack on a pathology lab delayed over 10,000 outpatient visits and 1,700 elective procedures.
- A global IT outage disrupted systems including EMIS Web for primary care and Lorenzo patient records across trusts.
- A supplier collapse affected the supply of handwash and sanitiser.
EPRR assurance 2024/25: What does the report reveal?
The annual report confirms EPRR remains an increasingly important NHS function, but highlights several ongoing challenges:
Resource constraints and operational pressures are limiting organisations’ capacity to run training and exercises.
Despite most boards claiming they have adequate resources, staffing gaps and difficulty releasing staff for training are widespread.
Cyber and IT incidents are being addressed, yet business continuity plans and recovery strategies are not always aligned.
Why traditional compliance isn’t enough and how to fill the gap
It’s one thing to meet EPRR core standards in theory. It’s another to test how your workforce actually performs when cyber systems collapse or the power supply fails. The 2024/25 EPRR report shows that incidents are becoming more frequent and complex, often involving multiple services and systems at once. Emergency preparedness has always been a critical NHS priority, but as risks evolve, from climate-related events to cyberattacks and global supply chain disruptions, preparedness needs to evolve too.
Scenario-based assessments give organisations the chance to test, learn, and adapt before the next disruption hits, building resilience where it matters most: in their people, their processes, and their ability to keep services running under pressure.
That’s where our Scenario Informed Resilience Assessment can help:
- It’s immersive and scenario-based, so you test your plans in a safe environment, supported by workforce and resilience experts.
- It integrates workforce planning insights, helping you identify the skills and capacity required in disruption scenarios.
- You get practical recommendations and a readiness rating tailored to your organisation’s context.