East of England ambulance staff urged to conserve oxygen supplies as Covid and flu cases rise

Ambulance staff are being urged to conserve oxygen supplies over fears of a shortage due to the high number of patients with respiratory conditions.

One trust, the East of England Ambulance Service, confirmed it was urging staff to "take sensible steps" to conserve supplies after having received a delivery of small oxygen cylinders on Tuesday.

The Health Service Journal (HSJ) reported in December that the trust had told staff that oxygen suppliers were unable to fulfil its orders.

Many ambulances carry several smaller cylinders, but supplies start to run low if a patient requiring oxygen cannot be handed over quickly at A&E.

An NHS spokesperson said: “While there is no shortage of oxygen, the NHS is seeing significant demand for portable oxygen due to increased numbers of patients suffering from respiratory viruses such as flu and Covid-19.“Local areas are using existing supply as efficiently as possible while, nationally, suppliers are working with the NHS to help meet increased demand – anybody needing care should not hesitate to contact the NHS as they usually would.”

The latest data shows the number of flu patients in hospital in England has risen 79% in the last week, with an average of 3,746 people in hospital across the seven days to December 25.

In the Anglia region there were 192 people with flu in hospitals on December 25, compared to just 17 with flu the previous month.

The HSJ said the type of cylinder affected usually provides about 30 minutes of oxygen on full flow and is widely used on ambulances and also where patients are grouped in A&E departments or kept in corridors waiting to be passed to hospitals, without access to the normal piped supply.

Measures to conserve supplies of smaller cylinders include switching patients to hospital supplies, returning empty cylinders to base so they can be replaced, using alternatives – such as larger tanks – as soon as possible, and not replenishing oxygen suppliers for home users or other services, HSJ reported.

The shortages are another symptom of the pressures on the NHS this winter, which many health bosses have declared the worst of their careers.

On Tuesday, Nick Hulme, the chief executive of Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, said the hospital had had to turn away patients for the first time because it did not have the capacity to treat them.

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