Thousands of new coronavirus ventilators won't be available for months, the government admitted today.
The news is a blow to health workers and patients after ministers insisted thousands of the vital machines were on the way to the NHS.
Health Minister Edward Argar today sad 8,000 "off the shelf" ventilators were on order, on top of 8,000 already in place.
A further 10,000 have been ordered from vacuum firm Dyson - potentially making 26,000 in total.
But Downing Street today admitted that while thousands of the 8,000 off-the-shelf ventilators will arrive in the coming weeks, thousands more of them will only arrive "in the coming months".
And Dyson's 10,000 ventilators have not actually been approved yet by regulators. They will only be bought if they are approved.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "We're having very good discussions with manufacturers and we're working hard together to ensure we get extra ventilators into the NHS as soon as possible."
The 8,000 ventilators that are on order are from existing and international manufacturers. The spokesman said: “Of those 8,000 we can say that we would expect thousands of those to arrive in the coming weeks and thousands more in the pipeline to arrive in the coming months.”
They are separate to Dyson's efforts.
In an email to staff, Sir James Dyson said his company designed the "CoVent" at the request of Boris Johnson.
The UK Government has now placed an initial order of 10,000 units, he claimed - but the firm is still waiting for the design to receive approval from regulators.
Downing Street clarified that the orders from various manufacturers, including the 10,000 from Dyson, "are all dependent on machines passing regulatory tests".
If they don’t meet standards, “they will not be bought or rolled out to hospitals," No10 added.
The PM's spokesman said today: "We have had an overwhelming response from businesses offering their support and we thank them for this.
"Safety of those who need this vital equipment is our absolute priority.
"We are now testing proof of concepts from a number of suppliers over the coming days."
Asked if the government might be charged a premium price by Dyson, the No10 spokesman said: “The point we’re at is machines having to pass regulatory tests, so I’m not going to pre-empt that.”
Downing Street also dodged questions today about the government's decision to buy 3.5million antibody tests to check if someone has previously had the coronavirus and is now immune.
The tests have not yet been approved and if they are not approved, they will not be used in the UK.
Reports suggest thousands of tests were bought from China by Spain, only for authorities to find they didn't work.
Asked if the UK has already paid for the tests, the PM's spokesman said: “They’ve obviously commercial arrangements, I don’t have the details of them.”
Asked why Britain has potentially bought 3.5million tests that don't work, he said: "My answer’s not going to change.
"What I stress is that if we are able to find an antibody test which works that could be a game changer.
"For that reason you will understand government is doing everything it can to find a test which works."
It's thought the 3.5million tests are from multiple suppliers.
The government said more than 15 million face masks, 24.6milllion gloves and more than a million eye protectors have been delivered to the front line in recent days.
Downing Street indicated that additional coronavirus field hospitals are being considered around the UK.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said 500 of the additional 4,000 beds created in the NHS Nightingale Hospital being set up in London's ExCel centre will be available for use next week.
Asked if convention centres in Birmingham and Manchester are also being considered, he said: "The current focus is on getting the ExCel centre up and running as the NHS Nightingale Hospital.
"But NHS England is actively preparing for a number of scenarios as the outbreak continues and is working with clinicians and teams of military planners around the country."
Pressed on whether this does mean more across the country, he said: "As I say, we are working with local health services all around the country."
