Experiencing an oxygen shortage scare

By Alexis Akwagyiram
BBC News

Oxygen cylinders were previously delivered by local pharmacists

A woman has died reportedly following the breakdown of a newly privatised system to provide oxygen supplies to patients at home.

BBC News learns about an 80-year-old woman who has suffered her own problems under the new system.

An estimated 60,000 people require oxygen at home for heart, pulmonary and cancer problems, according to NHS figures.

But it has emerged that two of the four companies that signed contracts with the Department of Health last year have suffered supply problems.

Alice Broderick, 63, from Carlisle, died last Saturday reportedly waited for an emergency delivery of oxygen after experiencing breathing difficulties.

Previously oxygen was delivered to patients by local pharmacies.

Thousands of patients in England and Wales were left struggling to obtain oxygen following the move to private suppliers.

Among them was 80-year-old widow Joan Rabone, of Warrington, who uses oxygen on a daily basis due to an aortic aneurism and breathing difficulties.

In November she was informed that Air Products would be taking over her supply in an arrangement that would be dealt with by her GP and the company.

'Scandalous'

But just weeks later she was unable to arrange delivery of a new cylinder, prompting a frantic bid by her son-in-law to track down some oxygen.

John Young criticised the "scandalous mismanagement" of the handover to private suppliers, adding that he would not be surprised if it was found that somebody had died as a result of system failings.

"We feared for [my mother-in-law's] life - my wife was upset and very worried. Luckily she didn't suffer any damage as a result of not having the oxygen."

As Mrs Rabone's oxygen supply began to diminish and she endured dizzy spells, there were concerns that she would run out completely.

Our priority is making sure the patients receive the best possible service Air Products

Mr Young, a project manager from Warrington, spent two days making enquiries at the relevant GP surgery and speaking to workers on an Air Products helpline. The company eventually provided an emergency cylinder from Mersey Ambulance Service through its out of hours service.

He said: "It took a lot of effort to get oxygen. You would think that suitable protections would be in place in case things went wrong."

Mr Young subsequently discovered that his mother-in-law's GP practice had failed to fill in the relevant forms to set up the new supply.

"It was the GP's responsibility to fill out the order form but Air Products should have ensured that they had checked all of the people who needed oxygen from them before taking over the service," he said.

"It seems nobody had bothered to add up the GPs and match them against patients and the forms the company had received.

'Obviously dangerous'

"They switched over to becoming suppliers without checking whether they were ready or not.

"There were people who had not been put through the system and they weren't ready to deal with it. To me it is both inexplicable and obviously dangerous."

He said a communication breakdown within the handover had created a flaw in the distribution system.

But Air Products, also the company involved in supplying oxygen to the woman who died in Cumbria, said GPs were responsible for arranging the handover of supplies by sending off the relevant forms.

A spokeswoman for the company said: "Our priority is making sure the patients receive the best possible service and we apologise for the delays people had coming through to the phone lines, but we did our very best to deal with them as quickly as possible."

'Incorrect' forms

However, she said many supply problems stemmed from the forms used in the service handover.

The spokeswoman said forms that had been completed incorrectly were returned to the relevant GP.

"In the first three days 11,000 forms were sent by GPs - normally we would get 250 each day - and up to 80% of the orders have been incorrect," she said.

"Extra man power" was also brought it in to deal with the increased volume of calls on the company's telephone helpline.

"We prioritised the emergency patients and dealt with them first," added the spokeswoman.