London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Aug 28, 2025

‘Very poorly equipped’: UK facing dire scarcity of ventilators as Covid-19 cases increase, says largest manufacturer

‘Very poorly equipped’: UK facing dire scarcity of ventilators as Covid-19 cases increase, says largest manufacturer

The UK’s National Health Service is facing a “massive shortage” of ventilators needed to treat severe coronavirus cases and will “pay the price” for failing to invest ahead of time, according to the CEO of a Swiss manufacturer.
The British government’s failure to invest properly in intensive care equipment will come back to haunt it, Andreas Wieland, CEO of Hamilton Medical, told Reuters on Wednesday. “They invested very little, and I think now they will pay the price.” He added that the full force of the epidemic has not truly hit the UK, which had 2,600 confirmed cases and 100 deaths at the time of the interview, and the worst is yet to come.

“England is very poorly equipped… They’re going to have a massive shortage, once the virus really arrives there.”

Hamilton claims to be the world’s largest manufacturer of the devices, which are needed to help severe coronavirus cases and other patients with respiratory difficulties to breathe. However, even after kicking up production by 30 to 40 percent in an effort to keep up with the raging pandemic, the company can still only produce about 80 ventilators every day. The machines sell for about £15,400 (€16,383), according to the Financial Times.

Weiland said that while he had been in “close contact” with UK medical authorities, the much worse situation in Italy was currently eating up his resources. Nearly 3,000 people have died of coronavirus in the country as of Wednesday, and more than 35,000 have been diagnosed with the disease. He warned that a similar-scale outbreak would utterly overwhelm the British system.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock urged British manufacturers to consider repurposing their factories toward making more ventilators, noting that the country had a mere 5,000 but needed “many times” that. To free up resources, he said the NHS would be postponing non-urgent surgeries, drafting recently-retired doctors, and sending doctors working in non-hospital roles back to serving patients. However, critics of the plan, including Doctors’ Association UK chair Dr. Rinesh Parmar, pointed out that the NHS has nearly 43,000 nurse and 10,000 doctor vacancies. “It’s pointless acquiring new ventilators without enough highly-trained staff to operate them,” Parmar told the Guardian.

Successive governments have chipped away at the UK’s state-run NHS system, leaving it dangerously underfunded in what some high-ranking members of the British Medical Association have claimed in recent years is a deliberate effort to force it to fail so that it can be profitably privatized.

Until (and unless) that happens, however, the US remains the sole major Western country that does not provide its citizens free healthcare. The US is also facing massive medical supply shortages, from ventilators to masks to a staggering array of drugs that are made overseas – many in China, where production has not yet recovered from the devastating coronavirus outbreak.

According to the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the US only has about 21 percent of the 960,000 ventilators it will likely need at the peak of a coronavirus outbreak in the country, and while hospitals are scurrying to rent more as manufacturers focus their energies on churning out extra machines, time is running out. Adding to the disaster-in-waiting, like the UK, the US is sorely lacking in qualified respiratory therapists, specialist nurses, and doctors with the proper skills to hook a patient up to a ventilator.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
×