How many oxygen, air and vacuum outlets does each bed type need?

Under HTM 02-01 (2026), the NHS England guidance, Table 1 gives typical outlet numbers: a general ward bed has 1 oxygen and 1 vacuum terminal unit, while an intensive care bed has 4 oxygen, 2 medical air and 4 vacuum; the table is a basis for design, not a prescription.

Does HTM 02-01 make these numbers mandatory?

No. HTM 02-01 (2026) presents Table 1 as typical types and values, not intended to be prescriptive but providing a basis for design.

How many outlets does an operating theatre have in HTM 02-01?

Table 1 lists 4 oxygen, 4 medical air (400 kPa), 2 surgical air (700 kPa), 4 vacuum and 2 AGSS terminal units for an acute operating theatre, on dual circuits.

How many medical gas outlets does each bed need?

Table 1 of HTM 02-01 Part A (2026 edition), published by NHS England, lists typical numbers of terminal units (outlets) per bed space, cot, trolley space or room, by service: oxygen (O2), oxygen/nitrous oxide mixture (O2/N2O), medical air at 400 kPa (MA4), surgical air at 700 kPa (SA7), vacuum (VAC) and anaesthetic gas scavenging (AGSS). The guidance says the table provides typical types and values and is not intended to be prescriptive: it is a basis for design, and an informed design follows the four key stages of its Chapter 1 with a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach.

Typical numbers in HTM 02-01 Table 1

Location	O2	MA4	SA7	VAC	AGSS
General ward, per bed space	1	none	none	1	none
Decant ward, per bed space	2	2	none	2	none
Renal, per dialysis station	1	none	none	1	none
Non-acute (community or hospice), per bed space	1	none	none	1	none
Emergency resuscitation room, per trolley space	4	2	none	2	none
Emergency minor treatment	1	none	none	1	none
Anaesthetic room	1	1	none	1	1
Acute operating theatre	4	4	2	4	2
Post-anaesthesia recovery stage 1, per bed space	2	2	none	2	none
Post-anaesthesia recovery stage 2, per bed space	1	none	none	1	none
Intensive care unit, per bed space	4	2	none	4	none
High dependency unit, per bed space	4	2	none	4	none
Neonatal unit, per cot space	4	2	none	4	none

Where the table asks for dual circuits, as it does for intensive care, high dependency, neonatal cots and emergency resuscitation, the circuits should be split evenly to cover both sides of the bed or each pendant: with 4 terminal units on each side of the bed, 2 come from each circuit, and the numbers in the table are the total across both circuits. Dual pipeline circuits should also be provided to operating theatres where enhanced resilience is required at the point of surgery. Where no row matches, a similar use area from the table should be used where possible.

Other rules that change the count

An anaesthetic gas scavenging terminal unit should be provided whenever nitrous oxide and anaesthetic agents are available for anaesthetic procedures.
LDRP rooms with birthing pools should get an additional oxygen/nitrous oxide terminal unit for use of the pool.
Outlet numbers are not flow numbers: HTM 02-01 calculates diversified flows from the number of bed spaces, treatment spaces or rooms where the procedure takes place, not from the number of terminal units, and notes that a critical care bed position may have four or more oxygen terminal units.

Outside England

Other countries publish their own numbers. Portugal's ACSS specification ET 03/2006 (v.2024), for example, has an annex with the minimum number of outlets for oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, vacuum and medical air at 400 kPa and 700 kPa.