tresir2012
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Hertfordshire hospital forced to consider who should be refused oxygen
Some more info about Watford General who declared the critical incident yesterday.
"Oxygen supplies at a Hertfordshire hospital inundated with coronavirus patients became so precarious last week that officials considered how to decide who should receive the gas and who should miss out and likely die, the Guardian understands.
The oxygen system at Watford general hospital came close to breaking point on Saturday, when a critical incident was declared and staff had to tell the public not to come to the hospital. Some patients were moved out to prevent the vital system failing.
Last week, health planners in Hertfordshire, where more than 800 cases of coronavirus have been recorded, became so concerned about oxygen supplies they alerted the military that they might need help. The area has been under huge pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic, with mortuary space filling up and plans being made to increase capacity four-fold. As of 5pm Thursday, 29 people had died at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS trust hospitals after being diagnosed with Covid-19. The trust is responsible for Watford general as well as Hemel Hempstead and St Albans City hospitals.
A senior clinician said: “They were [consulting] the hospital ethics committee every day and considering who they were not going to oxygenate and ventilate if they needed it, and making decisions about who would be triaged to not have oxygen and die.”
The decision to announce a critical incident on Saturday meant no one had to go without oxygen, the trust said.
Oxygen therapy is key to the successful treatment of advanced cases of Covid-19, and last Tuesday NHS England warned hospitals across the country about the risk to supplies in an urgent patient safety notice. It highlighted the dramatic recent increase in hospitals’ use of ventilators and in particular CPAP machines, which dispense ventilation through a face mask. "
More at link
Some more info about Watford General who declared the critical incident yesterday.
"Oxygen supplies at a Hertfordshire hospital inundated with coronavirus patients became so precarious last week that officials considered how to decide who should receive the gas and who should miss out and likely die, the Guardian understands.
The oxygen system at Watford general hospital came close to breaking point on Saturday, when a critical incident was declared and staff had to tell the public not to come to the hospital. Some patients were moved out to prevent the vital system failing.
Last week, health planners in Hertfordshire, where more than 800 cases of coronavirus have been recorded, became so concerned about oxygen supplies they alerted the military that they might need help. The area has been under huge pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic, with mortuary space filling up and plans being made to increase capacity four-fold. As of 5pm Thursday, 29 people had died at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS trust hospitals after being diagnosed with Covid-19. The trust is responsible for Watford general as well as Hemel Hempstead and St Albans City hospitals.
A senior clinician said: “They were [consulting] the hospital ethics committee every day and considering who they were not going to oxygenate and ventilate if they needed it, and making decisions about who would be triaged to not have oxygen and die.”
The decision to announce a critical incident on Saturday meant no one had to go without oxygen, the trust said.
Oxygen therapy is key to the successful treatment of advanced cases of Covid-19, and last Tuesday NHS England warned hospitals across the country about the risk to supplies in an urgent patient safety notice. It highlighted the dramatic recent increase in hospitals’ use of ventilators and in particular CPAP machines, which dispense ventilation through a face mask. "
More at link