Ambulance staff reportedly urged to conserve oxygen amid ‘twindemic’

Ambulance staff are reportedly being urged to conserve oxygen supplies due to a surge in demand for the small cylinders used in ambulances and A&E departments amid a seasonal “twindemic” of flu and Covid.

South East Coast ambulance service foundation trust warned staff of a shortage due to the high number of patients with respiratory conditions, adding that “suppliers are reporting that this is higher than during the first wave of the Covid pandemic”, according to the Health Service Journal (HSJ).

East of England ambulance service trust also told staff that oxygen suppliers were unable to fulfil their orders and supplies would need to be “carefully” managed for the next few days, HSJ reported.

The trust said in a message, seen by the journal, to staff on Thursday: “Oxygen suppliers, including BOC, are currently unable to supply sufficient numbers [of small cylinders] to fulfil our orders.

“This has been escalated nationally and NHS procurement are working to support ambulance trusts with supplies.”

South East Coast ambulance service foundation trust told the PA news agency the shortage was linked to high demand for oxygen across the system and said it was monitoring stock levels closely and working with its provider to ensure supplies are maintained.

An East of England ambulance service spokesperson said: “We have issued guidelines to crews to make sensible conservation measures, such as only returning cylinders when completely empty and using other oxygen sources where possible, but clinicians are instructed to continue managing patients’ target oxygen saturation levels in line with JRCALC [Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee] guidelines.”

An NHS spokesperson said while there was no shortage of oxygen, it was seeing significant demand for portable oxygen due to increased numbers of patients with 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 spokesperson added.

The latest data shows the number of flu patients in hospitals in England has risen 79% in the last week, with an average of 3,746 people in hospital across the seven days to 25 December. This is up from 2,088 the previous week.

The type of cylinder affected usually provides about 30 minutes of oxygen on full flow and is widely used in ambulances and also when patients are kept in A&E or in corridors waiting to be moved to beds with access to the normal piped supply.

Many ambulances carry several smaller cylinders and sometimes one larger one. But if a patient requiring oxygen cannot be handed over quickly at A&E, ambulance supplies can start to run low.