Coronavirus ventilators will not be ready for months despite epidemic peak being ‘weeks away’, UK government admits

PM's spokesperson also denies that refusal to take part in EU scheme is related to Brexit

Thousands of ventilators ordered for critically ill coronavirus patients in the UK will not arrive for months, Downing Street has admitted, even though the peak of the country’s epidemic is expected in the next three weeks.

Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson told reporters on Thursday that the government had ordered 8,000 approved machines for the NHS.

“We would say we expect thousands of those to arrive in the coming weeks and thousands more in the pipeline to arrive in the coming months,” they told a Westminster briefing.

However, Professor Neil Ferguson, a key scientist advising the government in its response, has suggested the majority of those ventilators may be needed sooner than that.

If current lockdown measures have been effective in slowing the spread of the virus, Mr Ferguson predicted that intensive care demand would peak “in approximately two to three weeks and then decline thereafter”.

Ventilators help critically ill patients who are struggling to breathe on their own by pumping oxygen into their lungs.

Covid-19 is a respiratory disease which can cause breathing problems in severe cases, with as many one in six people becoming seriously ill and developing some difficulty breathing, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The government has said it wants to obtain 30,000 ventilators to deal with demand – compared to the 8,175 it currently has access to – by convincing manufacturers to shift their production towards making the machines.

Mr Johnson received criticism on Thursday for not taking part in an EU scheme to boost the number of ventilators in Europe, with some accusing him of placing his pro-Brexit ideology above the need for essential equipment.

When asked why the UK was not utilising the scheme, the PM’s spokesperson said: “Well, we are no longer members of the EU.”

They added that the decision was not related to Brexit and the UK government was making its own efforts to secure ventilators.

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow health secretary, and Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrats’ acting leader, have both criticised the prime minister’s response to the scheme.

“With widespread concerns about our ventilator capacity and the urgent need to scale-up that capacity, we should be co-operating through international schemes to ensure we get these desperately needed pieces of kit,” Mr Ashworth said.

Mr Davey said there was “no reasonable justification” for the UK refusing to participate in the scheme.

“Let's be clear: getting more ventilators to our NHS will save lives. Why won't the prime minister put his Brexit views aside, given this crisis?” he added.

Downing Street has also contradicted a claim by billionaire entrepreneur Sir James Dyson, who said the government had ordered 10,000 ventilators from his firm.

Sir James emailed Dyson staff to say the company had received “an initial order of 10,000 units” from the government.

However, the PM’s spokesperson said all manufacturers turning their efforts to making ventilators would have to pass tests by expert clinicians and health regulators before purchases are made.

“New orders are all dependent on machines passing regulatory tests; this is the case with Dyson,” they said.

“Their machines must meet the necessary safety and regulatory standards - if they do not, they will not be brought or rolled out to hospitals.”

Earlier this month, a spokesperson for the manufacturing organisation Make UK said the use of contracted manufacturers to produce additional ventilators was “feasible” but would require them to be given designs for the machines.

“They can be given plans and designs, and told to stop what they're doing and start work on whatever. Our feeling is that that model would work,” the spokesperson said.

Additional reporting by PA