British doctors have warned that ventilators from China could cause “significant patient harm, including death.”
A group of senior doctors in the United Kingdom issued a warning about the deficiencies in 250 ventilators that were sourced from China, including concerns about sanitation and oxygen supply, according to a letter seen by NBC News.
The doctors warned that the oxygen supply was “variable and unreliable” and the quality of the machine was “basic.”
The ventilators were built to be used in ambulances, causing Britain’s National Health Service staff to create makeshift stands in order to use them.
Concerns about sanitation were also raised, as the machines have a fabric case that cannot be cleaned properly.
The letter was written by a senior intensive care doctor, who works at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, in one of the U.K.’s hardest-hit regions, according to NBC News. It was addressed to a senior official in the NHS.
China has faced accusations of sending defective personal protective equipment around the world. The Austrian government, for example, has reported that 500,000 masks were “unusable,” and thousands of COVID-19 test kits purchased by the Spanish government had an accuracy rate of only 30%.
Michael Gove, a senior member of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, previously thanked the Chinese government for securing the ventilators.
The U.K.’s Department of Health and Social Care told NBC News that it was aware of the concerns, and none of the ventilators are in use.
