Anaesthetic machines called into action to help patients breathe

DOCTORS have been given permission to rely on unlicensed machines to keep coronavirus patients alive in case their stock of ventilators runs out.

The Medicines Healthcare and Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) this week issued guidance on how to use anaesthetic delivery machines in place of standard ventilators for as long as the Covid-19 outbreak lasts.

But it warns the machines may need higher levels of maintenance due to problems such as condensation buildup, requiring parts to be regularly replaced.

It comes as ministers are leading a desperate push to secure more ventilators before the peak of coronavirus hospital admissions hits, predicted to be about seven to 10 days away.

The NHS has 10,000 ventilators available to patients and another 1,500 on order, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said on Wednesday.

However, Matt Hancock, the Health

Secretary, has said that 18,000 will be needed.

Designed to deliver a fresh flow of anaesthetic agents, most modern anaesthetic machines can also perform the function of a ventilator, which is to breathe artificially for a patient while they are unconscious.

However, normal intensive care ventilators are simpler to operate, more robust and are the first choice for the long-term use that many Covid-19 patients are requiring.

The MHRA alert says: “The use of an anaesthetic machine as a (long-term) ventilator in a health care setting when it has only received regulatory clearance as an anaesthetic machine is considered off-label use.”

It added their use “may be essential due to ventilator availability”.

Prof Mike Grocott, vice-president of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, said: “Some hospitals are using anaesthetic machines to ventilate patients already.”

Last weekend, the Government announced it had accepted 300 ventilators from China.