[BCM] [KKH] [E3] [BIA] [P3] CBF [1] Emergency Obstetric Services

CBF-1 Emergency Obstetric Processes

A critical component of the Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is evaluating how the consequences of a disruption increase over time. For Emergency Obstetric Services at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), the impact of an interruption is immediate because the service supports life-saving care for mothers and newborns.

However, the severity of operational, clinical, regulatory, financial, and reputational consequences continues to escalate as the disruption persists. Understanding this progressive deterioration enables KKH to prioritise recovery activities according to clinical urgency and organisational risk.

Different Sub-Critical Business Functions (Sub-CBFs) exhibit different impact profiles.

Functions directly involved in emergency surgery, clinical decision-making, and neonatal support become critical within minutes or hours, whereas functions such as documentation and regulatory reporting can tolerate slightly longer interruptions provided that alternative manual processes are implemented.

Assessing these differences ensures that continuity measures are proportionate to the operational importance of each function.

The results of this assessment form the basis for establishing Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs), Maximum Tolerable Periods of Disruption (MTPDs), and identifying Vulnerable Periods.

Together, these outputs support the prioritisation of recovery resources, development of continuity strategies, and preparation of Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) that preserve patient safety and operational resilience.

Table P3: Impact Over Time of Business Functions for CBF-1

The impact-over-time assessment demonstrates that the majority of Sub-Critical Business Functions supporting Emergency Obstetric Services become highly critical within the first few hours of disruption.

Functions associated with emergency clinical assessment, surgery, anaesthesia, neonatal resuscitation, maternal stabilisation, and blood product management exhibit an immediate escalation to Very High impact because any prolonged interruption directly threatens patient safety and clinical outcomes.

Other supporting functions, such as patient transfer and clinical documentation, deteriorate more progressively but still require timely restoration to maintain safe and compliant operations.

The recommended Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) identify the target restoration times needed to avoid unacceptable clinical and operational consequences, while the Maximum Tolerable Periods of Disruption (MTPDs) define the point beyond which the continued delivery of Emergency Obstetric Services would be seriously compromised.

These values provide essential design criteria for recovery strategies, technology resilience, staffing models, and contingency arrangements.

Identifying Vulnerable Periods further strengthens continuity planning by highlighting operational scenarios in which disruptions would have the greatest impact, such as emergency Caesarean sections, major haemorrhage events, neonatal resuscitations, mass casualty incidents, and periods of exceptionally high emergency demand.

Together, the impact-over-time analysis enables KKH to prioritise recovery efforts, allocate critical resources effectively, and develop Business Continuity Plans that support resilient, uninterrupted emergency obstetric care under severe but plausible disruption scenarios.