Ventilator challenge: 14,000 units made as initiative draws to a close

Penlon ventilators arrive at the Nightingale Hospital at the ExCeL exhibition centre in London at the height of the pandemic.
Penlon ventilators arrive at the Nightingale Hospital at the ExCeL exhibition centre in London at the height of the pandemic.

The UK manufacturing industry has helped produce over 14,000 ventilators in the Covid-19 pandemic as part of a government drive to boost NHS ventilator capacity.

The UK manufacturing industry has helped produce over 14,000 ventilators in the Covid-19 pandemic as part of a government drive to boost NHS ventilator capacity.

Scientific modelling at the start of the crisis predicted that the NHS was going to run out of ventilators, so the government launched the Ventilator Challenge with a call to arms to manufacturers and medical device companies to step up production of existing designs and design new ventilators from scratch.

The government received an overwhelming response, with over 5,000 companies offering their support and over 7,500 members of staff contributing to the effort.

Thanks partly to the manufacturing sector's efforts, the NHS has been protected throughout the coronavirus crisis in terms of ventilator capacity.

Prime minister Boris Johnson commented: "The Ventilator Challenge has proven just how much Britain can achieve when confronted with a difficult problem – bringing together the best minds in manufacturing, innovation and design.

"Thanks to these efforts, everyone who needed a ventilator has had access to one, and the NHS has the vital machines it needs to continue providing life-saving support against this deadly virus."
UK production of ventilators under the Ventilator Challenge has now drawn to a close with 14,000 devices expected to have been produced in around three months, accounting for over a half of all the ventilators now available to the NHS frontline.

It has also been confirmed that the Penlon ventilator has had its CE mark confirmed, meaning that the device, which was newly adapted for the Ventilator Challenge, is now available for export abroad. Learning from their experiences of the Ventilator Challenge Penlon are now setting up a new line aimed at exporting globally.

Ventilator Challenge www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Related Articles
Most recent Articles

Login / Sign up