Trust was sent ‘unfit’ ventilators at height of pandemic

A trust was supplied with ventilators that were not ‘fit for NHS purposes’ by two suppliers at the height of the first Covid wave, HSJ  has revealed.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust has now received a refund for both contracts, which were signed in March 2020 just as the pandemic began to hit the NHS.

The service rushed to secure the equipment in response to fears that existing ventilator capacity would be inadequate to deal with the rising number of seriously ill Covid patients. At the time, the use of ventilators was the only effective therapy for the sickest Covid patients. 

Minutes published by the trust at its most recent board meeting revealed the issue. GSTT then told HSJ in a statement: “Two contracts for ventilators were in dispute. In one case, the trust has already received a refund. In the other, which involved equipment we do not assess as fit for NHS purposes, the trust was reimbursed by central funding.”

The trust would not confirm the number of ventilators involved, the cost or the issue that meant they were not “fit for NHS purposes”.

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Source: HSJ, 23 June 2022