Engineering giants in race to design new medical ventilator as NHS warns it needs an extra 20,000

By Sam Greenhill and Francesca Washtell For The Daily Mail

Updated:

UK firms are racing against time to design a new life-saving medical ventilator by next week – as the NHS warns it is 20,000 short. 

Three consortia have been recruited to the 'wartime' effort to build the mechanical breathing aids, which are critical in the care of some people suffering coronavirus. 

And cash from the foreign aid budget is now being used to tackle the shortage. 

The Department for International Development is working with Frontier Technology and University College London to find designs for ventilator systems already used in developing countries that can be quickly adapted and built in the UK. 

Ventilator race: Three consortia have been recruited to build thousands of the mechanical breathing aids, which are critical in the care of some people suffering coronavirus

Ventilator race: Three consortia have been recruited to build thousands of the mechanical breathing aids, which are critical in the care of some people suffering coronavirus

NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens has admitted there are only 8,175 ventilators available out of the 30,000 that medical planners fear will be needed. 

If the imminent surge in cases happens too soon, there will not be enough to keep patients alive – meaning agonising decisions about which patients are not given them. 

Midlands-based firm Meggitt – which produces oxygen mask systems for aircraft – is spearheading the aerospace consortium. 

The UK team at Japanese car maker Nissan is heading up the automotive group, and Formula One manufacturer McLaren is running the motor sports consortium. 

The three groups have each been given until next week to produce a prototype. There are also at least three UK ventilator manufacturers which are stepping up operations, but many of the key components they use are made in China or elsewhere in the Far East. 

A source involved in the 'panic buying' of equipment at one NHS hospital told the Mail: 'The doctors, who are ordinarily calm, are pretty agitated and giving us shopping lists of things they will need. 

It is massively stressful because it's not going to be possible to get them all. It's the medical equivalent of trying to find toilet roll in the shops.' 

Boris Johnson wants to harness the skills of British industry and has asked 60 engineering companies, including car giants, if they can adapt their production lines to make the vital parts in the UK instead of relying on imports. 

F1 teams leading the way 

Britain's world-leading motor-racing industry could be a major asset in the scramble to build thousands of new ventilators. 

The UK is a global hub for the sport, particularly around Oxford where a number of big-name Formula 1 teams, such as Williams and Jaguar, are based. 

There is also a huge supply chain of highskilled engineering companies. 

David Richards, the chairman of motorsport engineering group Prodrive and industry body Motorsport UK, said the sector is uniquely placed to help because it is used to making changes to complicated systems at short notice. 

He added: 'What makes us so suitable is the extra skillsets we have and our immaculate facilities.' 

In a conference call on Monday night, he urged them to find ways to make 30,000 new ventilators in just two weeks. The UK's only specialist maker of ventilators for intensive care units, Breas, in Stratford-uponAvon, has increased capacity and moved to seven-day working. 

The manufacturers association, Make UK, says it would be possible for some specialist engineers to switch to making medical items. 

Ford, Honda, car parts firm Unipart, digger maker JCB and Rolls-Royce are among companies looking into it. JCB chairman Lord Bamford said: 'We have been approached by the Prime Minister to see if we can help with the production of ventilators. 

We will do whatever we can to help during the unprecedented times our country is facing.' Peter Worrallo, managing director of Penlon, one of the UK firms making ventilators, said: 'Nobody from the Government has put in a purchase order yet. 

We are a British company and we want to help. We are getting ready. As soon as we get a categorical order, saying what is needed, we will be up and running.' 

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