It goes back further than just the current crisis. The Operation Cygnus report in 2017 made it clear that the UK was not prepared for a pandemic.
The report recommended the imclusion of care homes in the planning.
The report was kept secret and virtually ignored by the government. Whatever planning there might have been was not shared with the care homes.
A report on Exercise Cygnus was produced in July 2017 and sent to all major government departments, NHS England, and the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It explicitly recommended that the social care system needed to be able to expand if it were to cope with a “worst-case scenario pandemic”, and that money should be ringfenced to provide extra capacity and support to the NHS.
Concerns were raised about the ability of the social care system to “provide the level of support needed if the NHS implemented its proposed reverse triage plans, which would entail the movement of patients from hospitals into social care facilities ”.
During the coronavirus crisis, care homes have been asked to take recovering Covid-19 patients, leading to concerns that they may spread the infection if not properly isolated and treated, which is not always possible in care settings.
When Hancock was asked about Exercise Cygnus on 28 April, on LBC radio, he replied: “I asked my officials to go back when this first came up in the press a few weeks ago and check that everything that was recommended was done and that’s the assurance that I got.”
However, senior figures in the care sector are raising questions about whether the recommendations pertaining to the care sector have been implemented in full.
Vic Rayner, the chief executive of the National Care Forum, said: “The sort of plan you might anticipate coming from these recommendations has not been evident in terms of a national or local government approach. They might have done this planning behind the scenes, but they haven’t involved the care providers.”
The report states that the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, whose members commission care services, should be involved in developing a way to assess surge capacity in social care during a pandemic. However, the Guardian understands the association was not asked to do so.
Care England’s Green said the recommendations for expanding capacity and staff levels were not discussed with providers following the 2017 report.
www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/07/revealed-the-secret-report-that-gave-ministers-warning-of-care-home-coronavirus-crisis?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1588852689
Also:
www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/28/government-rejected-radical-lockdown-england-care-homes-coronavirus