NHS hospitals seriously short of vital equipment

Hospitals are suffering ‘serious shortages’ of vital medical equipment such as ventilators and oxygen cylinders during the NHS’s winter crisis, it has been revealed.

A great increase in the number of people needing care has also led to some hospitals running out o beds for patients to sleep in, mattresses to lie on and trolleys to use while they wait for admission, the Guardian has found.

NHS England said the service is under the most strain it has faced since the 1990s. Patients have faced long waits for beds on trolleys, more than 100,000 patients have been stuck in ambulances waiting to get into an A&E unit, and senior doctors have written to the Prime Minister warning her about patients ‘dying prematurely’ in hospital corridors.

Internal emails show that supply problems recently prompted the hospital’s chief executive, Andrea Young, to warn staff about a severe shortage of face masks, which help hinder the spread of infections.

Nick Scriven, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “I’ve heard from several colleagues in acute medicine that their trusts have significant shortages of essential equipment such as bilevel positive airway [BiPaP] ventilators, which are needed in this surge of respiratory illness and IT kit – computers – on extra-capacity wards needed to complete patient records and proceed with [giving] care.

“I have also heard about a lack of basic items on extra wards such as blood tubes and cannulae, as well as beds, pillows and bedsheets. When staff have to urgently re-open areas [as temporary wards] and there is literally no kit then there is a panic procurement.”

Janet Davies, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “We know that hospitals are constantly short of beds. But the idea that some are dangerously low, or are even running out of vital medical equipment like ventilators and oxygen cylinders would horrify the public.

“At the other end of the scale, hospitals should not be struggling to get hold of enough pillows and face masks, which are hardly luxury items.”

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "As part of its thorough and robust planning for winter, which was supported by an extra £437 million in government funding, the NHS should have sufficient supplies to deal with periods of increased demand. If there are shortages, national NHS organisations are ready to work with hospitals to ensure a steady supply as patients would expect.”