Bristol ECMO

Bristol is one of six centrally-funded ECMO centres in England.  

For referrers

All ECMO referrals continue to go through the national referral website. 

Your referral will be handled by a Bristol ECMO consultant, who will mobilise a retrieval team if the candidate is suitable for ECMO. Typical patients suitable for ECMO include those with reversible disease associated with severe hypoxaemia (e.g. PaO2/FiO2 < 13.3kPa) or severe hypercapnic acidosis (e.g. pH < 7.20) despite conventional support.    

If your referral is time critical or you have difficulty submitting an online referral for any reason, please call the ECMO coordinator on 07741123467. 

We welcome discussions about any patient with potentially reversible severe acute respiratory failure, particularly those in whom adequate arterial blood gases cannot be achieved using lung protective tidal volumes and pressures.    

We encourage early referral and provide tailored solutions according to the requirements of the patient and referring centre. The potential benefits of ECMO as a lung protective strategy diminish after about one week of conventional ventilation at high pressure and high-inspired oxygen.   

Please download the supporting document below:

ECLS Severity scoring sheet

ECMO Referring Hospital Checklist

High consequence infectious patient

Pressure ulcer grade recording chart

Our centre   

Bristol is one of six centrally-funded ECMO centres in England.   

The type of ECMO provided in Bristol, known as veno-venous (VV) ECMO, is used when a patient has a critical respiratory condition which prevents the lungs from functioning normally. VVECMO is a supportive measure that uses an artificial lung (membrane) located outside the body (extra corporeal) that puts oxygen into the blood (oxygenation) and returns it to the body.   

In Bristol, the service is provided in a joint partnership between North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW). The development of the Bristol ECMO service is supported by the existing ECMO centres at St Thomas' Hospital and the Royal Brompton Hospital.    

Our services   

As of November 2022, the Bristol ECMO service has provided ECMO support for patients in the local Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucester area. During October 2023, the service will be working alongside  the Royal Brompton Hospital to provide a 24/7 retrieval service for the South West of England.   

For more information about VVECMO please download our patient leaflet:   

Veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) patient guide   

The service is delivered on the intensive care unit on the Bristol Royal Infirmary site. For more information about this unit please download the patient leaflets below:   

Intensive care unit A600 Information for visitors 

After Critical Care     

For information about travelling to and from our hospitals, including details about the Bristol Clean Air Zone, please view our travel pages.

Our ECMO leadership team   

• Dr Stefan Gurney, Bristol ECMO Clinical Lead    
• Kathryn Pollock and Carly Smith, Senior ECMO Nurse Specialists    
• David Machin, ECMO Lead Perfusionist    
• Tom Lunn, ECMO Lead Physiotherapist    
• Ya-Hui Liang, ECMO Lead Pharmacist    

Other specialties that we work with:   

• Radiology    
• Respiratory    
• Rheumatology    
• Microbiology