The Department no longer holds a central ventilator stockpile. The Covid Strategic Intensive Care Unit Reserve closed on 1 March 2024, and all remaining holdings have now been disposed of. This closure was in light of significantly reduced demand from the National Health Service, and the ongoing costs of storing and maintaining ageing equipment. Over 83,000 pieces of equipment were issued to NHS trusts across the United Kingdom from the reserve, including over 16,000 ventilators. In the event of a pandemic of major national health emergency, the Department will make an assessment of ventilator requirements and the feasibility of any stockpiling options.

The Government actively monitors emerging threats to supply resilience and has established processes in place to manage disruption across the health and social care sector, working in partnership with industry and the wider health system to support robust planning and preparedness for these risks. The Department’s National Supply Disruption Response acts as the single point of contact for the medical supply industry, and for the UK’s health and care system, in the event of a supply issue that cannot be resolved via local contingency measures.

The Ministry of Defence continues to assess and monitor the evolving threat picture in Ukraine, including Russian use of chemicals as a method of warfare. The UK has been at the forefront of international support and assistance to the armed forces of Ukraine and has provided respirators and decontamination kits, as well as other protective measures to enhance Ukraine's protective capabilities against chemical weapons.

Our commitment to Ukraine is unwavering, we continue to work closely with our international partners to coordinate counter-CBRN support and assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

As part of its response to COVID-19, the Government procured a large range of essential respiratory equipment, including ventilators, for use in the NHS across the UK. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) continues to maintain this Intensive Care Unit (ICU) equipment reserve, which includes a range of mechanical and non-invasive ventilators. These ventilators are available to be deployed to the NHS, in the event of surges in acute COVID or respiratory cases.

Learning the lessons from COVID-19, we are working with the Centre for Pandemic Preparedness (CPP) in the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to ensure a flexible and capabilities-based approach to pandemic preparedness.

The Government’s strategic approach to pandemic preparedness constantly evolves in response to new scientific information, lessons learned from prior pandemics, as well as responses to other infectious disease outbreaks and rigorous exercising to test our response mechanisms.

The Government’s cost of living support includes £15 billion to support the most vulnerable, including those using ventilators in their homes. Specific National Health Service specialised services also grant financial rebates to meet energy costs, including home oxygen concentrators.  NHS England is working with regional teams and integrated care systems to identify funding to address increases in energy costs incurred through the use of medical equipment in the home.

Specific specialised NHS England services provide rebates on energy costs for patients using medical equipment at home, such as home oxygen concentrators. However, these arrangements are unique to the contracts or service specifications.

We will continue to monitor the situation to support home users of electrical medical equipment.

Since 2020, the Department purchased approximately 47,000 ventilators of all types in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of these, approximately 1,500 or 3.2% of purchases have been found to be unfit for use in the National Health Service following clinical and medical engineering testing and evaluation. Approximately 5,000 Philips Respironics Bipap ventilators are currently awaiting repair by the manufacturer following a general product safety recall.