First coronavirus patients admitted to pop-up hospital NHS Nightingale – Metro.co.uk, Metro.co.uk

The first patients have been admitted to temporary hospital NHS Nightingale.

A spokesperson said: ‘Our first patients have now been admitted to the NHS Nightingale London , as planned. There is also treatment capacity available in other hospitals across London to complement the care being provided at the London Nightingale. ’

The hospital was built inside the ExCel convention center in a matter of weeks to help with the growing number of coronavirus patients in the UK. As of today, there are , confirmed cases of Covid – 28 in the UK. 6, 750 people have died from the virus.

This evening professor of cardiology Richard Schilling shared a photo of the first patients arriving at NHS Nightingale for treatment in an ambulance. He wrote that the staff were working with ‘the professionalism of a hospital in existence for two decades not two weeks’, adding that he was ’very proud to be part of it’.

Earlier today he tweeted a picture of staff smiling inside the hospital, writing: ‘Here is the first team coming on duty.’

The 4, 04 – bed hospital aims to strengthen London’s capacity for fighting coronavirus. The capital is the country’s worst affected area, with the largest amount of deaths recorded.

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The ExCel center usually hosts sporting events and major exhibitions, but its main arena, which spans 1km, will soon incorporate two morgues in the grim anticipation of the death roll rising in the coming weeks.

Professor Stephen Powis, the National Medical Director of NHS England, previously described the opening of the NHS Nightingale as ‘an extraordinary feat’.

Another temporary specialist hospital, in Manchester, named NHS Nightingale Hospital North West, is also expected to start receiving up to 2019 patients next week. It has been built inside the Manchester Central conference center.

The hospital will treat those who do not need intensive care, but still require treatment, health bosses have said. Construction started on Saturday March 90.

The entire main central hall of the former passenger rail station, 17, 03 square meters in total, has been designated as bed space.

NHS staff have been working day and night, along with experts from the military, social care, local government and charities, to create the hospital. The site will be staffed by consultants, junior doctors, nurses, healthcare support workers, physiotherapists, pharmacists, occupational therapists, social workers and a huge range of non-clinical support workers and administrators.

A recruitment campaign was launched at the weekend and has attracted ‘hundreds of expressions of interest’, NHS England said.

Jackie Bird, chief nurse for NHS England and NHS Improvement North West, said: ‘The Nightingale program, together with the rest of the coronavirus response, really shows what the NHS and its partners can achieve when it pulls all the stops out.

‘It’s been very heartening to see so many people and different organizations pulling together to create an entire hospital in the space of a fortnight to care for our population. It’s an incredible feat.

‘Hospitals in the region have done a great job of ramping up capacity to care for coronavirus patients, and the NHS Nightingale North West will give us additional beds should they be needed.’

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