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A 47 year old man has been flown from South West Acute Hospital to a hospital in Leicester that specialises in treating patients with swine flu.
Glenfield Hospital is the only hospital in the United Kingdom that provides extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy for both adults and children.
ECMO is used when a patient has a critical condition, such as the H1N1 virus, otherwise known as swine flu, which prevents the lungs or heart from working normally.
It?s understood that there are currently four adults and a child on the ECMO unit at the hospital.
A spokeswoman for University Hospitals of Leicester has confirmed to this newspaper that a male patient at South West Acute Hospital was flown to Glenfield by helicopter on Saturday night.
Neither the University Hospitals of Leicester nor the Western Health and Social Care Trust would confirm if the patient is being treated for suspected swine flu.
Glenfield Hospital is the only hospital in the United Kingdom that provides extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy for both adults and children.
ECMO is used when a patient has a critical condition, such as the H1N1 virus, otherwise known as swine flu, which prevents the lungs or heart from working normally.
It?s understood that there are currently four adults and a child on the ECMO unit at the hospital.
A spokeswoman for University Hospitals of Leicester has confirmed to this newspaper that a male patient at South West Acute Hospital was flown to Glenfield by helicopter on Saturday night.
Neither the University Hospitals of Leicester nor the Western Health and Social Care Trust would confirm if the patient is being treated for suspected swine flu.