The death rate for people admitted onto intensive care units is 50% (Picture: AFP)

A London NHS trust is reserving ventilators for coronavirus patients who are ‘reasonably certain’ to survive.

Imperial College Healthcare said ‘very poorly’ people may need to be on the life-saving machines for weeks, but in some cases ‘this would not be in their best interests’ as it may only result in delaying their death.

The survival rate for Covid-19 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) is 50%, according to a new study by the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC).

With the NHS facing its toughest week in history, a department head at Imperial Healthcare said they will have to tighten the criteria for admission onto ICUs.


Imperial College Healthcare said putting patients on ventilators for coronavirus is not always in their best interests (Credits: PA)

‘As we learn more about the disease, we are being much more careful about which patients are being considered for critical care’ a senior consultant told The Daily Telegraph.



‘In normal times we will give most people the benefit of the doubt. That has changed.’

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They added: ‘With this infection you need a couple of weeks on a ventilator, so with resources being used for such a long time, you have to be reasonably certain the person is going to get better.

‘Delaying their death for two or three weeks is not the right thing for them or for society.’

A further 206 people died of coronavirus on Sunday – down from the previous day of 260, the highest daily death jump yet. In London, which has the highest number of infections, there are fears hospitals will not cope if serious cases continue to surge.

Doctors will have to make difficult decisions about who she get admission onto intensive care units (Picture: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)

Chris Hopson, chief executive of National Health Service Providers, on Thursday said a shortage of ventilators was already a ‘real issue’ for hospitals in London, which is thought to be around two weeks ahead of the rest of the country in terms of the scale of the virus.

Imperial healthcare covers two large acute hospitals in the capital. Medical director Professor Julian Redhead denied that it has or will have to ration critical care, insisting ventilator decisions were being made for medical reasons, not capacity reasons.

She said: ‘Clinicians at our trust are not making decisions about ventilating patients based on capacity considerations. Our trust currently has good capacity for patients requiring ventilation and already has plans in place to increase that capacity.

‘We know that very poorly patients with coronavirus may need to be on a ventilator for extended periods – for some patients this would not be in their best interests.

Critically ill patients need about two weeks on a ventilator but they won’t always survive (Picture: AFP)

‘Our trust currently has good capacity for patients requiring ventilation and already has plans in place to increase that capacity as needed.

‘Clinicians have to make difficult judgements on the balance of risk and benefit for patients all of the time and will also endeavour to discuss decisions with patients and families.’

The NHS says it has access to around 8,000 ventilators. The government is trying to source at least 30,000 to deal with the potential influx of patients to intensive care units, and there are fears the ventilators will not arrive in time.

The Government has ordered 10,000 ventilators to help tackle the coronavirus off billionare inventor Sir James Dyson (Picture: PA)

Last week the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, which sets clinical guidelines, issued a new framework instructing doctors to prioritise those most likely to survive.

Health officials have stopped short of addressing the idea ventilators may have to be rationed, instead saying doctors would have to have difficult conversations with families.

Dr Rachel Clarke, a palliative care specialist, warned on Friday that some Covid-19 patients were spending their final hours and days alone in busy intensive care units despite having no chance of survival.



Speaking on BBC Radio Four, The Oxford-based clinician advised all families to ask elderly loved-ones if they want hospital treatment in the event they deteriorate with coronavirus.

An NHS spokesperson said: ‘There are hundreds of critical care beds available in London and thousands across the rest of the country so any patient that would benefit can get the care they need.’

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