Senior British doctors and medical managers have raised concerns over 250 ventilators the United Kingdom purchased from China. If these ventilators ar
Senior British doctors and medical managers have raised concerns over 250 ventilators the United Kingdom purchased from China. If these ventilators are used in hospital, the group warns significant patient harm, including death, according to a letter addressed directly to a senior NHS official.
The ventilators received from China, the Shangrila 510 model, were built by one of the country’s major ventilator manufacturers, Beijing Aeonmed Co. Ltd.
The letter detailed serious concerns over the “basic” quality of the ventilators, calling the oxygen supply “variable and unreliable.” The doctors said that the machines are also unfamiliar to British doctors and were built for ambulance use, rather than hospital use.
“We look forward to the withdrawal and replacement of these ventilators with devices better able to provide intensive care ventilation for our patients. Ventilators need to pass robust regulatory tests to ensure they are up to standard before they’re delivered to NHS hospitals,” a government spokesperson said.
The letter dated April 13 comes nine days after British cabinet ministers celebrated the purchase of equipment.
China’s power in producing lifesaving equipment has been essential to governments rushing to fill the gaps in their own supply. At a press briefing this past Sunday, Li Xingqian, China’s director of the Commerce of Ministry’s foreign trade department, said 74 countries and six international organizations had signed 192 contracts for Chinese medical supplies.
On April 15, the Chinese government addressed counterfeit and faulty exports, promising to mete out punishment with zero tolerance to companies found exporting such equipment, said Zhao Lijan, a Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Meanwhile, the outbreak is currently improving in the U.K., with spare ventilator capacity in all areas of the country.
