Hospitals to review security after blast
HOSPITALS were urged to review their security measures last night after the Liverpool bomb attack.
Although there is nothing to suggest any linked attacks are planned, bosses at England’s 213 NHS trusts have been told to make sure staff are aware of what to do in the event of a terrorist incident.
In an email to staff at a London hospital, seen by the Daily Mail, workers have been told to ‘remain vigilant’ and familiarise themselves with existing security arrangements.
They have also been invited to attend a free ‘action counters terrorism’ course.
Similar guidance is being sent to staff at hundreds of hospitals in England – but NHS England stressed this is standard procedure when the UK’s terror threat level is raised.
It is understood hospitals in Scotland were also informed of the increased alert level.
The Liverpool bombing comes months after Islamic State called for attacks on NHS trusts during the coronavirus pandemic.
Protective security advice was distributed to NHS trusts by counter-terrorism officers last year amid fears extremists planned to exploit lockdown to radicalise new recruits. Chief Superintendent Nik Adams, the national coordinator for the Prevent counter-extremism programme, warned that supporters of the terror group were ‘encouraging people to target the places that appear most vulnerable’.
During lockdown, hospitals became some of the most crowded places in the country while tourist attractions were practically deserted.
Mr Adams said in April last year that jihadis were calling for attacks on hospitals in the hope that police and security services would be ‘distracted and overwhelmed’.
He said: ‘We’re seeing the exploitation of the circumstances to encourage acts of violence.
‘We are working closely with colleagues across the Five Eyes [intelligence alliance] countries, with academics and community advisory networks to monitor how that information is playing out, and making sure that protective security advice is being adapted for the places that might be considered more vulnerable now.’
In September the head of MI5 warned Britain could face a ‘spectacular’ attack like 9/11 after the West’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Ken McCallum said his staff were braced for an ‘increase in inspired terrorism’ and the ‘potential regrowth of Al Qaeda-style directed plots’ after the Taliban took over the country.