{"id":20207,"date":"2025-01-16T15:36:01","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T16:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=20207"},"modified":"2025-01-16T17:30:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T17:30:21","slug":"large-uk-wide-pandemic-preparedness-tests-planned-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=20207","title":{"rendered":"Large UK-wide pandemic preparedness tests planned this year"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Emergency service teams, local councils and government officials will take part in a full, multi-day pandemic preparedness exercise, to help the UK prepare for potential future threats.<\/p>\n

The test, which is likely to take place in the autumn, will involve thousands of people across different parts of the UK, minister Pat McFadden has announced. <\/p>\n

The plans come in response to the first set of recommendations made by the Covid-19 Inquiry – the ongoing public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic. <\/p>\n

The chair of the inquiry, Baroness Hallett, found the UK was “ill-prepared” for the coronavirus pandemic, and “failed” its citizens. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The national pandemic response exercise will be the first of its kind in nearly a decade, designed to test capabilities, plans and procedures in the face of new threats, the government says. <\/p>\n

The findings and lessons will be made public, as requested by Baroness Hallett, who made a series of recommendations in a 217-page report<\/a> published in July 2023. <\/p>\n

Another measure will be a full test of the emergency alert system – which sounds an alarm through mobile phones – later this year.<\/p>\n

The alert has been used four times since its launch in 2023, including in areas hit hardest by recent storms.<\/p>\n

The government has also committed to training 4,000 people a year to be better prepared for crises such as pandemics, through a UK resilience academy, planned to open in April. <\/p>\n

The Covid-19 inquiry report found the pandemic had a disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups. <\/p>\n

A new national “vulnerability map” will be produced, Mr McFadden says, to highlight populations who may be vulnerable in a crisis, using data on age, disability, ethnicity and whether someone is receiving care. <\/p>\n

It is designed to help people get more targeted local support. <\/p>\n

Mr McFadden said: “We must learn lessons from the Covid pandemic, as we cannot afford to make the same mistakes again.<\/p>\n

“But we will plan in a way that recognises the next crisis may not be the same as the last.”<\/p>\n

Pandemic planning and resilience are also about making sure the underlying fundamentals of our country are strong, he added. <\/p>\n

Baroness Hallett’s first report called for a major overhaul of the systems involved in preparing the country for civil emergencies. <\/p>\n

it also pointed out the UK lacked resilience, with high rates of ill-health and public services running close to – if not beyond – capacity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emergency service teams, local councils and government officials will take part in a full, multi-day pandemic preparedness exercise, to help the UK prepare for potential future threats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20209,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20207"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20210,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20207\/revisions\/20210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}