should be taken into account during an influenza. ministry of defence should be required to assist in the worst-case scenario. the process and timeline of front line responders need to be made more precise. a framework for analysing social care and surge capacity needs to be established. the potential for increasing social care real-estate and staff numbers need to be examined. strategies to allocate voluntary resources during a pandemic need to be developed with advice from non-health departments. excess death management needs review. pandemic contingency plans and procedures as a whole require more development. key participants public health england public health england (phe) was an executive agency within the department of health and social care whose goal was to "protect and improve the nation’s health and well-being, and reduce health inequalities". it had the autonomy to guide and help the united kingdom government, authorities and nhs without their influence. in exercise cygnus, the emergency response department was specifically employed within phe. its specialists assisted the health community by providing training and expert advice with regards to emergencies. it collaborated with several organisations such as the european commission, european centre for disease prevention and control and world health organization. dame sally davies, chief medical officer for england (june 2010 to september 2019) dame sally davies dame sally davies was chief medical officer (united kingdom) and chief medical advisor to the united kingdom government (march 2011 - september 2019) at the time of the exercise. additionally, she was on the world health organization executive board then (2014 - 2016). she previously raised concerns for the lack of medical resources, specifically ventilators and hospital beds. the health secretary, jeremy hunt, and nhs chief executive simon stevens, had reduced the budget for equipment. in 2016, she raised the need to adapt to an increasingly ageing population which will be more susceptible to disease and vulnerable to pandemics, and "welcomes" a larger budget on "public health and prevention fields". however, she understands "times of austerity" and the difficulties faced by the central government. matt hancock, united kingdom health secretary (2018–2021) matt hancock matt hancock was the secretary of state for health and social care of united kingdom (2018–2021). on 28 april 2020, hancock was questioned by british radio host nick ferrari regarding findings of exercise cygnus leaked to the guardian. responding, hancock said officials informed him that "everything that was recommended has been done". efforts to force release of report in march 2020, according to the sunday times, downing street officials found follow-up planning from exercise cygnus lacking, with one stating that it "never went into the operational detail". in late april 2020, the observer reported that the government had been threatened with legal action over demands to publish the results of the study. a version of the report, classified as "official – sensitive", was leaked and published (with redaction of some contact details) in the observer's sister paper the guardian on 7 may 2020. as of october 2020, legal action is in progress to force the department of health and social care to publish the full report and other supporting documentation related to exercise cygnus. in november 2020, liberal democrat mp tim farron submitted a written question to the secretary of state for health and social care asking whether the full findings of exercise cygnus will be published; no immediate answer was forthcoming. moosa qureshi moosa qureshi is a national health service doctor campaigning for disclosure of the results of exercise cygnus following the 2020 covid-19 outbreak. according to dr qureshi, who has experience treating leukemia patients severely impacted by covid-19, healthcare should be built on transparency and collaborative peer review. in april 2020, he raised more than £46,000 through crowdjustice.com for this cause. dr qureshi, represented by uk solicitor leigh day, filed action against matt hancock for withholding the reports following exercise cygnus. in response to the uk government's refusal on the grounds of inciting public fear, dr qureshi pursued legal action under both the freedom of information act and an application for judicial review. on 28 september 2020, the information commissioner's office ordered the department of health and social care to respond to dr qureshi's freedom of information request, and matt hancock announced publication of "the report into exercise cygnus" on 20 october 2020. following publication, and following the department of health's confirmation that it held no further reports evidencing the findings of exercise cygnus, dr qureshi withdrew his legal action for judicial review. however, questions were later raised about whether the government had disclosed all relevant material, and dr qureshi argued that the department of health continued to withhold a plan for surge capacity and "refusing nhs care to large numbers of sick patients" in the event of an overwhelming pandemic. attention after covid-19