Revealed: Secret report warned ministers of Covid-19 in care homes
The guardian have published a secret government report, that said the UK was not prepared for a pandemic and informed the dangers of Covid-19 in care homes.
The 2017 report is based on the findings of a government simulation of an influenza pandemic, codenamed 'Exercise Cygnus'. It pointed out that Britain was not adequately prepared for a flu-like pandemic’s “extreme demands”.
As well as, raised questions over whether ministers implemented key recommendations concerning care homes. It outlined 26 key recommendations, including boosting the capacity of care homes and the numbers of staff available to work in them.
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, said he had been assured by officials at the Department of Health that “everything that was recommended was done". However, Martin Green the chief executive of Care England, argued the issues regarding the social care system’s ability to handle patients discharged from hospitals and the need for the largest private care providers to increase capacity, were not raised by government agencies with his members.
Green told The Guardian, “This is a report that made some really clear recommendations that haven’t been implemented. If they had put in place a response to everyone, we would have been in a much better place at the start of this pandemic".
The Exercise Cygnus report, has been kept a secret by the government since it first came out three years ago. However a copy was leaked to the Guardian, which is now publishing the document in the public interest.
Read more background into Exercise Cygnus here.
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