London hospital declares major incident over oxygen supply fears

Exclusive: South London hospital forced to call in staff and divert emergency patients

Queen’s Hospital in Woolwich has had to stop accepting new patients over concerns about its oxygen supplies (PA)

A London hospital has declared a major incident over fears about a shortage in oxygen caused by the demand from coronavirus patients on its wards.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Woolwich, southeast London, was forced to ask London Ambulance Service to take emergency patients to other hospitals on Sunday amid concerns about the flow of oxygen to patients.

It is the latest in a string of London hospitals to declare major incidents in the past 10 days as the capital has been hit by a surge in new Covid-19 infections and hospital admissions.

The 500-bed hospital, part of the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, called in extra staff on Sunday after the incident was declared at around 1pm.

Messages seen by The Independent confirmed the hospital put in place a divert for emergency ambulance patients who were sent to King’s College Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital. The diverts lasted until at least 10pm on Sunday evening.

The hospital, which is still in a major incident as of Monday lunchtime, continued to accept children and cardiac arrest patients.

It called in extra staff on Sunday to cope with the crisis with every patient in the hospital reviewed to check their oxygen levels were correct.

It is thought the hospital fell victim to the same problem that has hit other hospitals earlier in the pandemic, with the sheer numbers of coronavirus patients needing more oxygen than the physical pipes and infrastructure can deliver to the wards.

The problem is worse now because many more Covid-19 patients are being treated without being ventilated, using special masks which use more oxygen than a ventilator. NHS trusts are also trying to treat as many routine patients as they can, who will have their own oxygen needs.

In April, Watford General Hospital was forced to close its accident and emergency department after a collapse in oxygen supplies. During the second wave of Covid-19, Scunthorpe Hospital declared a major incident when its oxygen supply was hit, which also saw patients sent to different hospitals.

NHS England has said it is spending £15m to upgrade oxygen supplies at some hospitals but in a warning in November, it told managers to carry out daily checks on their oxygen supplies, including the amount of oxygen in the air because of a risk of fires if it goes above 23 per cent.

A new variant of the virus is thought to be behind a sudden increase in patients in London which has seen hospital numbers in the capital double in a matter of days just before Christmas.

London Ambulance Service has reported experiencing its busiest days with 8,000 calls on Boxing Day and ambulances delayed outside hospitals for hours.

As with several other London hospitals, the Lewisham and Greenwich Trust said it was being forced to cancel operations ahead of Christmas due to the high number of emergency patients.

In a statement on its website the trust said: “To ensure we can continue to provide safe and effective care for those patients that need it, we have taken the decision to cancel all routine planned operations for the time being, other than for cancer and endoscopy.”

Urgent and life-saving surgery will go ahead along with operations for patients waiting longer than 80 weeks.

Dr Elizabeth Aitken, chief medical officer at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, said: “Our staff are very busy at present caring for a high number of inpatients, including those with Covid-19. We need to ensure we are in a position to provide safe and effective care for those patients most in need.

“We understand how disappointing and frustrating it is to have your surgery cancelled, and we apologise sincerely for the inconvenience caused.

“We are working closely with the South East London Critical Care Network to manage a rise in admissions. Covid inpatient numbers are still below the first wave in April, but they are on the rise, so everyone should continue to follow the national guidance to limit the spread of the virus – wash hands regularly, wear a face mask unless exempt and observe social distancing.”

The trust was approached for comment regarding the major incident but did not respond before publication.