Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what dates cross-governmental meetings to discuss the Exercise Cygnus report on pandemic preparedness took place.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Working across Government and with stakeholders, the lessons identified from Exercise Cygnus have informed our preparedness, such as development of draft legislation support to the response to a future influenza pandemic and strengthening health sector plans to surge and flex beyond normal operations. Learning the lessons from preparedness exercises, as well as other sources of expertise has ensured that the United Kingdom remains well prepared for infectious disease outbreaks.
Ministers at the Department participated in Exercise Cygnus and have been kept informed of the subsequent work to strengthen our preparedness.
The lessons learned from Exercise Cygnus continue to be discussed and considered by the Government and a range of stakeholders, including expert advisory groups and local emergency planners in reviewing response plans.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Ministers in his Department received the report on Exercise Cygnus; and on what date those Ministers received that report.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Working across Government and with stakeholders, the lessons identified from Exercise Cygnus have informed our preparedness, such as development of draft legislation support to the response to a future influenza pandemic and strengthening health sector plans to surge and flex beyond normal operations. Learning the lessons from preparedness exercises, as well as other sources of expertise has ensured that the United Kingdom remains well prepared for infectious disease outbreaks.
Ministers at the Department participated in Exercise Cygnus and have been kept informed of the subsequent work to strengthen our preparedness.
The lessons learned from Exercise Cygnus continue to be discussed and considered by the Government and a range of stakeholders, including expert advisory groups and local emergency planners in reviewing response plans.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government took to prepare for a global health pandemic following the publication of the Exercise Cygnus report.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Working across Government and with stakeholders, the lessons identified from Exercise Cygnus have informed our preparedness, such as development of draft legislation support to the response to a future influenza pandemic and strengthening health sector plans to surge and flex beyond normal operations. Learning the lessons from preparedness exercises, as well as other sources of expertise has ensured that the United Kingdom remains well prepared for infectious disease outbreaks.
Ministers at the Department participated in Exercise Cygnus and have been kept informed of the subsequent work to strengthen our preparedness.
The lessons learned from Exercise Cygnus continue to be discussed and considered by the Government and a range of stakeholders, including expert advisory groups and local emergency planners in reviewing response plans.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they took following the conclusion of Exercise Cygnus to ensure that the potential for staff absences to reach 50 per cent was built into business continuity planning in the event of a pandemic.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
I refer the noble Lord to published documents, including for example the modelling of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling from November 2018, which detailed a reasonable worst case scenario that up to 50% of the population could be ill - not that staff absences could reach 50%.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what actions they took following the conclusion of Exercise Cygnus.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The lessons identified from Exercise Cygnus continue to be considered by the Government and a range of stakeholders, including expert advisory groups and local emergency planners.
Working across Government and with stakeholders the lessons from Exercise Cygnus, along with expert advice, have informed our preparedness. Developments include strengthening health and care sector plans to surge and flex systems and resources beyond normal operations and stockpiling personal protective equipment specifically for an influenza pandemic.
Plans for the discharge of patients who no longer need acute care follow the ‘Discharge to Assess’ model; wherever possible, people who are clinically ready will be supported to return to their place of residence, where assessment of longer-term needs will take place. The safety of residents and staff is always a priority and patients should not be discharged unless it is clinically safe to do so.
COVID-19 hospital discharge service requirements was published on 19 March 2020. These requirements follow the ‘Discharge to Assess’ model. A copy is attached.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they took, following the conclusion of Exercise Cygnus, to ensure that the UK’s preparedness and response, in terms of its plans, policies and capability, was sufficient to cope with the extreme demands of a pandemic.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The lessons identified from Exercise Cygnus continue to be considered by the Government and a range of stakeholders, including expert advisory groups and local emergency planners.
Working across Government and with stakeholders the lessons from Exercise Cygnus, along with expert advice, have informed our preparedness. Developments include strengthening health and care sector plans to surge and flex systems and resources beyond normal operations and stockpiling personal protective equipment specifically for an influenza pandemic.
Plans for the discharge of patients who no longer need acute care follow the ‘Discharge to Assess’ model; wherever possible, people who are clinically ready will be supported to return to their place of residence, where assessment of longer-term needs will take place. The safety of residents and staff is always a priority and patients should not be discharged unless it is clinically safe to do so.
COVID-19 hospital discharge service requirements was published on 19 March 2020. These requirements follow the ‘Discharge to Assess’ model. A copy is attached.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they took, following the conclusion of Exercise Cygnus, to develop a plan to ensure that, in the event of a surge in patients, the health and social care sectors could make a quick decision on whether someone stays in hospital or is discharged to residential care, community care or home for treatment or care.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The lessons identified from Exercise Cygnus continue to be considered by the Government and a range of stakeholders, including expert advisory groups and local emergency planners.
Working across Government and with stakeholders the lessons from Exercise Cygnus, along with expert advice, have informed our preparedness. Developments include strengthening health and care sector plans to surge and flex systems and resources beyond normal operations and stockpiling personal protective equipment specifically for an influenza pandemic.
Plans for the discharge of patients who no longer need acute care follow the ‘Discharge to Assess’ model; wherever possible, people who are clinically ready will be supported to return to their place of residence, where assessment of longer-term needs will take place. The safety of residents and staff is always a priority and patients should not be discharged unless it is clinically safe to do so.
COVID-19 hospital discharge service requirements was published on 19 March 2020. These requirements follow the ‘Discharge to Assess’ model. A copy is attached.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant the Answer of 4 May 2020 to Question 41129, whether actions, implementation and follow-up plans were developed after Exercise Cygnus; and whether those plans were directly provided to the care sector.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The lessons learned from Exercise Cygnus continue to be considered by the Government and a range of stakeholders, including expert advisory groups and local emergency planners in reviewing response plans.
Taking the recommendations from Exercise Cygnus, the Department commissioned further work on pandemic influenza preparedness from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services. This was completed in the spring of 2018 and included advice and guidance on planning for a pandemic, which was circulated to Directors of Adult Social Services.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the principle of transparency set out on page 18 of the Government document entitled Our Plan to Rebuild: The UK Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy, CP239, for what reason he has not published the scientific and technical advice arising from Exercise Cygnus; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Reports on exercises are not routinely published by the Department to allow full, candid and proper deliberation of the lessons learnt.
The scientific and technical advice from Exercise Cygnus was based on a hypothetical scenario for a fictional influenza pandemic and is therefore not suitable for publication.
Lessons from Exercise Cygnus, in conjunction with expert advice, continue to be used in planning for a future influenza pandemic and inform policy development.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2020 to Question 37613 on Disease Control, what outcomes of Exercise Cygnus were; and what work his Department (a) stopped and (b) commenced following that exercise.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Learning the lessons from preparedness exercises, as well as other sources of expertise has ensured that the United Kingdom remains well prepared for infectious disease outbreaks. Working across Government and with stakeholders, the lessons identified from Exercise Cygnus have informed our preparedness, such as development of draft legislation support to the response to a future influenza pandemic and, strengthening health sector plans to surge and flex beyond normal operations.
The lessons learned from Exercise Cygnus continue to be considered by the Government and a range of stakeholders, including expert advisory groups and local emergency planners in reviewing response plans.