Henry Royce: COVID-19 — UK Critical Equipment Supply Chain Survey to Support the NHS

Hospital trusts in the UK are facing increasing shortages of critical equipment including personal protective equipment (PPE) and respiratory apparatus.

The Henry Royce Institute, as the national institute for advanced materials research and innovation, has been contacted by NHS hospital trusts requesting assistance in engineering and manufacturing these items to aid their response, including:

  • Rapid provision of equipment parts associated with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by 3D printing/​additive manufacturing to Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) standards under emergency humanitarian provision regulation.
  • Advice or expertise on reverse engineering components such as oxygen flow valves for respiration aids and adaptors to allow non-clinical respirator masks to be used to provide positive air pressure breathing support (C‑PAP).

Royce intends to set up and manage a database to simplify and expedite access for the NHS to design and manufacturing capabilities across the UK. As such, we are launching two surveys for:

  • Those registering design and/​or manufacturing facilities and resources in the UK that they wish to make available to the NHS, CLICK HERE.
  • Those requiring access to design and/​or manufacturing facilities to produce parts for critical equipment for the NHS, CLICK HERE.

We are aiming to match suitable resources with local needs and are also interested in hearing about ongoing projects associated with the design and manufacture of equipment for the NHS which we could support through this project.

Please share this widely and encourage those with resources or a need to complete these surveys.

Further information

Specifications for manufacture of devices according to MHRA standards under emergency humanitarian provision regulation:

This exercise is led by the Henry Royce Institute and is intended to expedite and centralise information which may support the NHS. Information collated in this survey will be held by Royce for review. Any details or information will not be published elsewhere nor used for marketing purposes. You will be asked to indicate at the bottom of the surveys how you wish the information provided to be used.

For any queries regarding the above information please contact info@​royce.​ac.​uk