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29
Jun 2021
Review warns that outdated hospital oxygen systems a ‘risk to patients’
A safety watchdog has warned that life-saving oxygen is at risk of not reaching patients in hospital because of problems with how it is piped around wards.
A review by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) said several hospitals in England faced difficulties during the winter Covid wave, saying that outdated systems used to pump oxygen around wards could not always cope with the surges in demand.
Investigators said it was crucial that hospitals made adjustments to cope with any future outbreaks.
Dr Stephen Drage, HSIBs director of investigations, said the supply of oxygen was clearly a “critical issue”, adding “If it fails the impact is significant.”
The HSIB was established to investigate safety issues in the NHS in England. It carried out an in-depth investigation into problems reported at one hospital where a major incident was declared when the supply of oxygen to wards, including the high dependency unit, dropped.
The trust resorted to diverting patients to nearby hospitals and cancelling non-emergency surgery.
The HSIB said the problems were not unique to this trust and that it was aware of similar issues in at least a dozen hospitals.
It added that long-term investment was needed to upgrade the supply systems, with experts who gave evidence describing the equipment being used in many parts of the NHS as “unbelievably old”.
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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
Freephone : 0800 304 7382
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