Exercise Cygnus - Question

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 11:06 am on 9 June 2020.

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Photo of Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Labour 11:06, 9 June 2020

My Lords, if the Minister is so confident that the lessons from Exercise Cygnus informed the UK’s preparedness, why was the care sector so neglected? To deal with the surge of NHS patients expected in the event of a pandemic, the exercise identified that extra capacity would be required in care homes. Why was that not heeded and why, as Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, put it, was PPE redirected away from care homes and the NHS given a clear instruction in March to send people to care homes despite no testing for infection being available?