Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to build a resilient supply of oxygen for patients with (1) serious respiratory conditions, and (2) asthma, in (a) hospitals, (b) their homes, or (c) care homes.
Oxygen resilience is primarily achieved through sufficient production capacity within the United Kingdom. Current National Health Service use of oxygen is approximately 320 metric tonnes of oxygen per day, while total UK oxygen production capacity is approximately 1,650 metric tonnes of oxygen per day.
We have worked with gas providers, which has led to an increase in capacity within the cylinder supply chain and improved supply chain timing. In addition, the National Medical Devices Reserve includes over 2,500 oxygen concentrators and a range of ancillary oxygen equipment for deployment to meet a range of supply contingencies.