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There are claims people have 'paid with their lives' after recommendations on how to handle a flu pandemic seemed to have been ignored.
A Kent emergency planning team were involved in a secret pandemic flu simulation carried out by the government in 2016.
A Public Health England report from July 2017 which was published publicly during the current coronavirus crisis - marked "Official-Sensitive" - has revealed the national emergency exercise, Cygnus, was carried out over three days in October 2016.
More than 950 people took part, ranging from Department of Health ministers to teams of eight resilience forums, including Kent.
The report into the exercise highlighted a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies.
But less than three years after the report was published, some Kent councillors think the recommendations in it, were ignored, which has now 'left people paying for it with their lives'.
During the exercise, the teams tested the UK's capability to respond to a global pandemic, believed to be influenza in the operation, which the report said should be "critically reviewed".
However, some Kent councillors don't think the report was reviewed enough.
The 57-page report contained several key recommendations, including boosting care home capacity and staff numbers.
The 2017 dossier raised concerns around school closures and adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies.
A spokesman for the Kent Resilience Forum said: "The exercise helped participants to understand their role in responding to a flu pandemic; specifically in sharing local information with national agencies, and in understanding the roles and responsibilities of other agencies."
More than 30 different organisations make up the Kent Resilience Forum, including emergency services, such as Kent Police and the fire service, six health trusts and 13 local authorities, including Kent County Council (KCC).
They regularly meet to develop and test a wide range of emergency plans.
However, KCC's health overview and scrutiny committee chairman (HOSC), Cllr Paul Bartlett (Con), said the lessons from Exercise Cygnus should be "carefully" examined in a future meeting.
The Ashford county councillor said: "There is some discussion that there could be a further spike in October and November. It's critical that we learn all the lessons we can from the current experience and have a clear plan in place for any potential repetition.
"Personal protective equipment (PPE) is an example where things have not gone as well as they should."
Around £5million has been spent by KCC on bulk emergency purchases of PPE over the last two months.
More than 2.4million items, including gowns, goggles, masks and hand sanitiser, have been distributed across Kent.
However, the struggles around PPE continue to be faced in care homes.
A total of 17 people have died at Thanet's Grosvenor Court in Cliftonville, according to information recently shared with local members.
The 62-bed residential home has staff trained in specialist needs, such as dementia care and learning disabilities, as well as sensory impairments and Parkinson's.
Thanet councillor Karen Constantine (Lab), who is a member of KCC's HOSC committee, said she remains concerned about testing in care homes.
She said: "I am lost for words that key recommendations from Operation Cygnus, such as stockpiling PPE, appear to have been ignored which has left people paying for it with their lives."
KCC's main opposition leader, Cllr Rob Bird (Lib Dem), added: "I think we need to look very carefully at lessons learnt from previous pandemic exercises such as Operation Cygnus."
In April, Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, said in an interview with LBC that lessons from Exercise Cygnus had been taken on board by the government.
A Kent Resilience Forum spokesman added: “Whilst Covid 19 is different to flu, thanks to regular training and testing of emergency plans, Kent Resilience Forum partners were ready to work together and support our health partners in responding to the county-wide impacts.”
Maidstone County Hall's next HOSC public meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, July 22.
