NHS doctors warn hospitals lack three essential drugs to help sickest patients – Daily Mail

NHS doctors have warned that their hospitals are short of three essential drugs that help coronavirus patients fight for life with respirators.

Medical staff have reported that their supply of sedative propofol, as well as pain relieving fentanyl and norepinephrine increasing circulation.

The shocking revelations come as the death toll in Britain has skyrocketed from 917 to 9,875, with infections increasing from 5,233 to 78,991.

Medical staff said their supply of sedative propofol (photo), as well as the pain reliever fentanyl and norepinephrine, a circulation-boosting drug, is decreasing

Paramedics take patient to St Thomas Hospital, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson is recovering from a coronavirus

To manage the most serious cases of coronavirus, resuscitators must immerse the patients in an artificial coma and intubate them.

To do this, they use powerful anesthesia drugs – such as propofol, which now costs up to £ 20 per 100 ml – and these are the ones that disappear quickly.

Norepinephrine, a type of adrenaline, and fentanyl, a high-quality pain reliever, were banned from export last month in an attempt to reduce shortages.

But consultant anesthesiologist Anthony Beaumont told the Sunday Mirror “we are out of drugs,” adding that he has enough propofol to last five days.

He said: “No one has seen this pandemic coming and expecting the health service to be ready is unfair. The infrastructure is simply not up to scratch. “

The 62-year-old, who has retired from retirement to join intensive care at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, added: “There is a shortage. This could mean that operating rooms will have the first choice, leaving patients in intensive care.

He said there are plans to sedate Covid patients with morphine and midazolam, which he says are not as effective as patients take longer to wake up.

A doctor, who requested anonymity, also said the drugs were rationed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Their warnings were echoed by the chair of the clinical quality and research committee of Professor William Harrop-Griffiths of the Royal College of Anesthetists.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs said: “We are doing everything to ensure patients have access to the medicines they need.

“We are working with the pharmaceutical industry and the NHS England to make supplies available.

“We have banned the parallel export of over 100 medicines to keep supplies in the UK.”

This comes as senior NHS officials revealed that hospitals may run out of doctors’ coats after Interior Minister Priti Patel said she was “ sorry if people think there are had failures ” regarding the supply of protective equipment.

Interior Minister Priti Patel said she was sorry if anyone thought there had been shortages in the supply of PPE for health workers in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic

Memos were released on Saturday, warning of a “national shortage” of long-sleeved dresses needed to treat patients with coronavirus.

The revelation comes when the government asked all companies that can make dressing gowns to subscribe to their new plan to produce personal protective equipment.

The Kington Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said in correspondence with The Telegraph that supplies of gowns may run out this weekend.

The news came hours after Public Health England relaxed its rules and said doctors could get away with hooded coveralls if the dresses were not available.

Interior Minister Priti Patel said she was sorry if anyone felt that there had been failures in the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

In an email sent on Thursday evening, Martin Barkley, general manager of Mid Yorkshire, said: “I fully recognize the enormous concern of staff over this issue.

“Every day you get to work, leave your family, put yourself in a position that must seem vulnerable and scary to you for doing the right thing for our patients. I want to assure you that the trust is doing everything in its power to guarantee new stocks. ”

The government has called on all industries to ask all companies that can produce protective equipment to come forward.