The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a new and growing
demand for ventilators across the world. These life-saving
machines are being used to treat patients with more severe
Covid-19 symptoms, which can include difficulty breathing.
In response to a predicted shortage of ventilators, the UK
government issued a call for business to
help make ventilators to supply to the NHS.[1]
The NHS made an initial
estimate of 30,000 ventilators to meet demand,[2] before Health
Secretary Matt Hancock later revised this figure to
18,000.[3] Estimates
made at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak suggested that
the NHS had just over 8,000
ventilators available.[4]
Industry responded to the government’s call, with a number of
high-profile companies expressing an interest in manufacturing
ventilators.
This included a consortium of engineering and manufacturing
companies, Ventilator Challenge
UK, of which companies such as Rolls Royce, Ford, Microsoft
and Airbus, and ventilator manufacturer Penlon, are members.
Ventilator Challenge recently obtained regulatory approval for
one of its ventilator models and the government has
since confirmed an
order for 15,000 devices.[5]
This briefing paper provides an account of ventilator
availability and procurement in the UK, a summary of government
action, and a discussion of other issues associated with
ventilator use.
[1] Call for businesses to
help make NHS ventilators, Gov.uk, updated 30 March 2020
[2]
Coronavirus: Government
orders 10,000 ventilators from Dyson, BBC News, 26 March 2020
[3] Matt Hancock: ‘Outdoor
exercise could be banned if people flout rules’, The Andrew
Marr Show, BBC, 5 April 2020
[4] Coronavirus: Government
orders 10,000 ventilators from Dyson, BBC News, 26 March 2020
[5] Regulator approves first
Ventilator Challenge device, Gov.uk, 16 April 2020
