How military-style command operation is leading Peterborough and Cambridgeshire’s response to coronavirus crisis

With the UK in lockdown, thousands of people dying and problems ranging from a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for key workers to preventing economic ruin, the crisis has placed a remarkable strain on the country’s people and institutions.

And while the public gets to hear from its leaders on a regular basis thanks to daily press conferences, locally the fightback is being carried out behind closed doors, albeit at no less impressive a pace.

Tackling everything from school closures, protection for waste collectors, feeding the elderly, council tax deferrals and financial support for businesses, a command operation has been installed across both Peterborough and Cambridgeshire to respond to the mountain of daily challenges which keep those in leadership positions busy across all hours of the day, whether it be through morning conference calls or reading the latest government guidance late into the evening.

Fronting the operation are Gillian Beasley, chief executive of Peterborough City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council, and Jan Thomas, accountable officer for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) which is responsible for planning local NHS services.

The pair took 30 minutes out of their relentless schedules to speak to the Peterborough Telegraph last week about how they and their colleagues across all sectors are working tirelessly to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.

Emergency planning

Under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, during an emergency authorities are required to bring what are known as Category 1 and Category 2 responders together under a Local Resilience Forum to plan a response, Mrs Beasley said.

This includes everyone from health bodies, the emergency services, local authorities and utility companies.

Both Mrs Beasley and Mrs Thomas have received training to prepare for such an eventuality and seven weeks ago were able to activate a flu pandemic plan in response to the crisis.

“It is complex and there are a lot of organisations involved, but there’s huge goodwill and determination to get it right due to the consequences of not getting it right,” said Mrs Beasley.

“There’s no falling out - there’s an acknowledgement (of a problem) and fixing it before moving on. It’s very pragmatic and very task orientated.”

Each day begins at 8am for the council chief with a remote ‘Gold Meeting’ of senior management who run through all the issues, with tasks then handed out for the day. This includes working out which areas need support and which problems need escalating.

Mrs Thomas’ team does the same thing, then at 11.30am there is a meeting of the Category One teams (e.g. health and council bodies) to problem solve.

“It’s like a military command operation structure we’re in,” said Mrs Beasley.

Mrs Thomas noted that individual organisations had been making internal preparations weeks before the operation was set up, but that everyone was now communicating regularly both in large stakeholder meetings and in sub-groups.

“All organisations have their own internal teams working on this. Our role is to make sure we understand all of the risks in those organisations and help people solve each other’s problems to manage this pandemic,” she added.

“We are overseeing how we are strategically doing it and those organisations and groups of people we have brought together will deliver according to plans.

“The strength of what we’re doing is through our routine. We’re very clear how we manage risk and how we work together.

“The way local authorities are working together is excellent, and the frontline staff - the work they’re doing is just fantastic.”

“Gillian and I take responsibility but we are backed up by a fantastic group. We are taking great care to make sure their mental health is looked after and the team do get downtime.”

Challenges

Mrs Beasley is currently working alone in her office in the Town Hall.

Her Saturday evenings can now include calls with the Government about the deployment of PPE, although she insists both herself and staff are managing to find time to rest.

Asked what the biggest challenges have been so far, she said identifying the essential services and making sure people who could work from home were doing so, and that those who cannot were being kept safe.

There is also the challenge of responding at pace to new government guidance.

“It was a massive, massive enterprise to start off with. We’re getting in the rhythm of working now,” she noted.

Mrs Thomas said: “The first challenge was to make sure we were doing the right preparation and keeping that proportionate. We talked about how this is a marathon and not a sprint and we were very mindful that if we went too hard right at the very beginning that it would be very difficult for individuals to maintain it.

“Making it clear to individuals that it wasn’t a two week event was a challenge up front.

“Then secondly, we also spent a lot of time communicating and making it clear on where we need PPE. It’s a very scary time for everybody, so it’s important we’re providing that leadership by keeping calm.”

PPE

A lot has been said about shortages of protective equipment for frontline workers, but both women insist that Peterborough and Cambridgeshire has so far coped well.

“We’ve managed pretty well,” said Mrs Beasley. “I’ve not heard of anyone that has run out. We’ve had people on the verge of running out and had to procure it from somewhere else.”

Mrs Thomas added: “We need people to understand what PPE they need and make sure they understand what risk they are at. That’s an ongoing job.

“The hospitals have the PPE that they need and when they need it. They are also supporting each other. Mutual aid is working well - if someone runs short of something the other hospitals are stepping in.”

Both women said staff sickness levels had plateaued and are “not causing us too big a problem”.

Hubs

The Government identified 1.5 million vulnerable people who would need ‘shielding’ during the current crisis, which would include receiving food while being forced to keep themselves at home.

And this has required a huge effort for the councils to set up a main co-ordination hub at short notice which is now operating in Huntingdonshire.

“While the Government was setting up their supply chains to those people they wanted us to fill the gaps,” said Mrs Beasley.

“We procured a warehouse and had deliveries of food. We’ve got a range of volunteers including the Red Cross who are running a large chunk of it. We’ve got an ex-military planner and we’ve got volunteers from so many different walks of life working at the hub.

“We have the information given from government data as to who needs to be supported and we are calling every single person who needs help to check them out and make sure they get a food delivery and make sure they’re okay.

“We’ve got a large number of call handlers, people who have been trained, volunteers, to make sure no one is caught between the cracks and we contact everyone and meet their needs.”

A series of district hubs have also been set up, including one in Peterborough, which is supporting vulnerable people who are not part of the official shielded group.

A huge number of volunteers have so far stepped up to offer their support, with many already receiving training and helping out with the effort to reach those in need.

Mrs Beasley said she had seen altruism in “spadefuls,” adding: “It’s been incredible. People have been so supportive. Really talented people are running logistics which they’ve never run before and are running it superbly.

“Jan and I are able to run this operation because there’s a sheer willingness and tenacity to get this right.”

The councils are buying their own food to top up the Government supplies with all hubs now up and running, and vulnerable people in Peterborough can receive support by calling 01733 747474.

‘Everyone has been brilliant’

With no end in sight for the lockdown, residents in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire will continue to rely on the good work and the goodwill of civic leaders and selfless volunteers for months to come.

Mrs Thomas said: “I am incredibly proud of all of the work people across healthcare, the voluntary sector and councils have done together. It has been unprecedented. The teams are doing a really good job.”

Mrs Beasley added: “I say to every team every single day ‘thank you, thank you, you’ve been brilliant’.

“There has been an incredible response to this and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has been outstanding in how everyone has responded to this.”