Safety recommendation
HSIB recommends that NHS England and NHS Improvement urgently issue definitive guidance on the role, function, and key attendees of the medical gas committee. This guidance should identify and encourage key multidisciplinary relationships and board level reporting of medical gas issues.
Response:
The NHS Estates team within NHS England and NHS Improvement has been and continues to be committed to supporting the NHS response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our priority is to ensure that NHS estates and facilities meet the needs of patients and front-line staff during the pandemic and longer term. NHS estates and facilities has made strides since the start of the pandemic. This includes updating the primary guidance to the NHS oxygen and other related gases: “Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 02-01 NHS estates guidance for medical gas pipeline systems” which is currently ongoing. This will reflect the recommendations raised by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch in this report including in relation to the qualification and experience of staff and the role, functions, and key members of the medical gas committee.
In addition we are looking at how we can better centrally support the provision of medical gases in the NHS both locally and nationally, drawing on the experiences and lessons learned from the NHS response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The updated version of “Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 02-01 NHS estates guidance for medical gas pipeline systems” will include more detail on the membership of medical gas committees and their responsibilities.
The Terms of Reference for such committees are included in the “Performance of healthcare cryogenic liquid oxygen systems – mitigating the effects of current and future pandemic demand” document.
Response received on 17 September 2021.