Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Lord Markham on 4 January (HL1377) and 24 January (HL1768), under a realistic worst case scenario for Risk 54 (an unmitigated respiratory pandemic) in which 1.34 million people require hospital treatment, how many (1) additional mechanical ventilators, (2) non-invasive ventilators (BiPaP), and (3) NIV continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) units, would be required in addition to those currently held by hospital intensive care units; and what would be the estimated cost, at current prices, of replacing the equipment held in the COVID Strategic Care Unit Reserve.

The Department continues to plan and prepare for a range of pandemic and emerging infectious disease scenarios, including those caused by respiratory contact and vector-borne pathogens, both influenza and non-influenza related. These plans are built on lessons learned from exercises and incidents, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

NHS England routinely monitor the total number of ventilators available against the number of ventilators in use. NHS England published Adult critical care surge plan guidance in December 2023 which sets out the actions to ensure capacity is mobilised at a sufficient rate to meet increases in demand. In response to any pandemic, NHS England would implement the published surge planning guidance to review capacity and demand within the current context of the situation. A copy of this guidance is attached.

The Department’s COVID Strategic Intensive Care Unit Reserve was established to operate for a set lifespan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, after which point it would close. Due to lower-than-expected demand for equipment from the stockpile by the National Health Service, the strategic pandemic intensive care unit reserve is now closing in March 2024 and there are no current plans to replace it. No estimate has been made of the cost of replacing it.