Coronavirus: How easy it for the UK to make more ventilators?

British engineering firms have been called on to switch to making medical ventilators as concern grows about the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

For patients critically ill with Covid-19, access to a ventilator could be a matter of life or death. The machines get oxygen into the lungs and remove carbon dioxide from the body when people are too sick to breathe on their own.

That might sound simple but it is crucial to keep pressure to a minimum to avoid causing further damage. In addition, if the oxygen level is too high, that can do harm.

As a result, intensive care unit (ICU) ventilators need to not only keep people breathing but also accurately monitor their lungs, using a mix of airflow, temperature, humidity and pressure sensors. Hospitals across the world now urgently need more of this kit.

In the UK, the government is speaking to a wide range of manufacturers to see if they can lend a hand. The goal is to have "many times" the current number - about 20,000 additional machines as quickly as possible.

"The fact the government is asking manufacturers to make a different product to what they normally make is unprecedented since the World War Two," Justin Benson, from the consultancy KMPG, said. "It's a relatively complex piece of equipment with lots of components and a dedicated supply chain. So asking someone who makes a car to produce a respirator would take them some time."

Others are more plain spoken about the idea ventilator assembly lines could be established at places such as Honda's Swindon plant.

"It would take too long," said Stephen Phipson, chief executive of the engineering trade body Make UK. "We already have companies that build other people's designs for them - everything from alarm systems to signalling systems for trains. These are the companies you need, which can place components on circuit boards, do the wiring, testing and assembling. Building cars is a very different matter."

'Ready and willing'
So while big name manufacturers such as Rolls-Royce and JCB have also been invited to discuss playing a role, it could be lesser known companies that take the lead.

Gloucestershire-based Renishaw is one to have already been approached by the Cabinet Office. The company makes small precision-measurement parts, which are used in other types of medical equipment as well as aircraft.