NHS ‘failed test of its ability to handle full scale pandemic three years ago’ and ‘ministers hid the results’
THE NHS failed a test of its ability to handle a full scale pandemic three years ago with ministers hiding the “terrifying” results from the public, it was reported last night.
Whitehall deemed that the conclusion was too sensitive to be made public, but it shows similarities between the current Covid-19 outbreak.
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The testing, codenamed Exercise Cygnus, conducted a three day run on how the health service would cope with a major flu outbreak.
NHS hospitals, local authorities and major government departments were included in the operation that took place in October 2016.
Ministers were briefed on the results of Cygnus, which revealed that there were significant gaps in the NHS “surge capacity” and included a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) and intensive care unit (ICU) beds.
A former senior government source told : “There has been a reluctance to put Cygnus out in the public domain because frankly it would terrify people.
“It’s right to say that the NHS was stretched beyond breaking point [by Cygnus].
“People might say we have blood on our hands, but the fact is that it’s always easier to manage the last outbreak than the one coming down the track.
“Hindsight is a beautiful thing.”
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A senior academic directly involved in both Cygnus and the coronavirus pandemic added: “These exercises are supposed to prepare the government for something like this – but it appears they were aware of the problem but didn’t do much about it.
“We’ve been quite surprised at the lack of coherent planning for a pandemic on this scale. “It’s basically a lack of attention to what would be needed to prevent a disease like this from overwhelming the system.
“All the flexibility has been pared away so it’s difficult to react quickly. Nothing is ready to go.”
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