Major NHS hospital almost runs out of oxygen

A major NHS hospital almost ran out of oxygen for its Covid-19 patients on ventilators because it was treating so many people with the disease who needed help to breathe.

The incident, which occurred at a London teaching hospital last weekend, has prompted NHS bosses to urgently warn all NHS trusts in England to limit the number of people they put on mechanical ventilators and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines.

NHS England was so concerned by what happened that it told hospital bosses in a letter on Monday that the risk constituted a “critical safety concern” which could have major consequences for all patients relying on oxygen to stay alive.

It told them to take a series of urgent actions to reduce the risk of their own oxygen supply suddenly running short because of heavy demand.

Read more via The Guardian