How the NHS planned for a crisis

By Eleanor Bradford
Health correspondent, BBC Scotland

The NHS in Scotland has had to deal with many emergencies throughout its 60-year history, but as an organisation it does not sit back and wait for the worst to happen.

The Vale of Leven was specially built to take casualties from a nuclear attack Sixty years of the Scottish NHS Typhoid left city 'under siege'

Many hours and days are spent planning for all kinds of scenarios.

Back in the 1950s the NHS was making plans for the ultimate disaster - nuclear war.

The Vale of Leven hospital in Dunbartonshire - currently at the centre of an outbreak of the C.difficile bug - was specially-built to cope with casualties if an atom bomb was dropped on Glasgow.

Interior walls were constructed so they could be easily knocked down to create a large space for mass casualties.

The canteen is big enough to cater for large numbers of walking-wounded camped out in the grounds.

The mortuary is unusually large for a hospital of its size.

Its manager, along with other people of "important" rank, was sent on Civil Defence training courses to learn how to skin rabbits and identify edible mushrooms, so they could live off the land if necessary.

In 1964 the NHS faced its worst food-borne crisis.

Typhoid patients were taken to Woodend Hospital

A single can of Argentinean corned beef led to an outbreak of typhoid in Aberdeen.

At its height 32 patients a day were being admitted to hospital, filling a ward a day.

The NHS responded quickly, emptying Woodend and Foresterhill hospitals so they could admit infected patients.

Managers were preparing to empty Stracathro hospital in Brechin when the outbreak reached its peak and began to subside.

In total 500 people were affected.

The NHS, though, has always tried to learn lessons.

The Aberdeen typhoid outbreak laid the foundations for the Food Standards Agency.

Disasters cannot always be prevented and there is now a sophisticated system to handle major emergencies.

Real threat

The Scottish health service works with the fire service, police and councils to create plans which can be swung into action in a variety of scenarios.

It runs training exercises for what it calls CBRN - chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents.

In recent years it has devoted a lot of attention to preparing for a flu pandemic, a possibility that is still a very real threat.

The most recent training exercise was only a few weeks ago.

But the basic principle remains the same: No-one can predict the future, but by preparing for various possibilities and building good working relationships, the NHS can save lives and prevent an emergency turning into a crisis.