In October 2016, the British Ministry of Public Health conducted the “Swan Cygnus Exercise”, coordinating more than 950 people, from the Minister of Health to local emergency planners to prison officials, to test whether the UK can respond to a global pandemic. The simulated situation at the time was flu.
The conclusion of this exercise was that the United Kingdom did not have sufficient capacity to cope with the “extreme demand” similar to a pandemic. The report was sent to all major government departments and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The report made 26 key recommendations, including the establishment of a comprehensive “pandemic action concept” to prepare for a “surge of stress” in the health system under a pandemic. The report clearly recommends that in a pandemic, “recently retired nurses should be returned to cope with the additional pressure”. The report also warns that if nursing homes are required to accept hospital patients, their capacity is still extremely insufficient and they will face huge challenges.
This time the New Crown Virus has swept the nursing homes in the UK. In Scotland, 60% of new crown deaths occur in nursing homes, and one third of all new crown deaths in the UK occur in nursing homes. There is a shortage of basic personal protective equipment in nursing homes, and the most susceptible elderly groups cannot be protected.
Recently, the Minister of Health Matt Hancock was asked about the report on the “Swan Cyrillic Exercise.” He said that the Ministry of Health officials assured him that “all the recommendations in the report have been implemented.”
However, Care England, the UK ’s largest pension service provider, said that the government agencies did not propose to them the concerns raised in the report about the nursing home system and the solutions to the problems.
Public opinion questioned that if the recommendations in this exercise report can be implemented, Britain can respond much better in a pandemic.