Hospitals have been urged to check if there are any “limitations” in their oxygen delivery systems by a safety watchdog.
Problems with oxygen in hospitals could lead to medics being forced to choose which patients should be prioritised to receive care or lowering the amount of oxygen that patients receive, the Healthcare Safety Investigation branch (HSIB) warned.
The warnings form part of an interim HSIB report on oxygen issued during the pandemic.
Investigators launched a probe after a London hospital trust declared a major incident after identifying problems with its oxygen supply.
Problems arose when two patients on a high dependency unit (HDU) were found to have lower than expected blood oxygen levels.