Statement by Air Liquide Regarding Oxygen Contract Changeover

November 27th 2024

Air Liquide Healthcare – Home Oxygen supply
Communication to ILFA

By way of update to the Irish Lung Fibrosis Association:

Air Liquide is committed to continuously providing a high standard of service to the community and in particular to patients using home oxygen therapy.

Air Liquide has recently purchased large quantities of additional cylinders to cover the increasing demand for gaseous oxygen. The current coverage of Air Liquide for refills is across all geographies in the Republic of Ireland. We understand that the use of oxygen can be seasonal with peaks of demand occurring around holidays, Christmas and long weekends. We work hard to plan for these times and will always do our utmost to ensure you have what you need to enjoy these times.

As part of the new HSE home oxygen contract, Air Liquide is in the process of:
● Installing existing oxygen users currently being serviced by BOC patients in CHOs 1,2,3,7,8,9
● Deinstalling oxygen users in CHOs 4,5,6, who will be looked after by Vivisol as per the new contract

This process is dictated by the HSE where individual prescriptions are sent to either us or Vivisol by prescribers. We estimate that this transition process is approximately 50% complete.

Air Liquide is committed to delivering a high level of service and will work along with the HSE and ILFA to make sure that the utmost attention is given to each patient. In the event our service is not meeting the expected requirements, we would like to remind you that any complaints or concerns can be reported on our website in the contact section: https://ie.healthcare.airliquide.com/contact-us.

As a reminder:
● Refill orders should be requested with a notice of 3 working days for delivery.
● Patients should not use cylinders outside of an ambulatory set up, unless specifically prescribed, i.e. concentrators should be used when inside the house and cylinders when outside of the house.
● Oxygen must not be used in the vicinity of a heat source (gas cooker, gas oven, fireplace, candles).
● For any question, doubt or concern regarding safety with oxygen, contact us.

Please rest assured that if there is any concern we remain available to answer any of your queries at:1800 24 02 02.

Kind regards,

The management team
Air Liquide Healthcare Ireland