London’s new Nightingale Hospital on schedule to open this week
The NHS Nightingale Hospital London is on schedule to open this week to care exclusively for Covid-19 patients from across the capital and could have a capacity of several thousand beds by the anticipated peak of the coronavirus pandemic next month.
Ian Peters, chair of Barts Health, the authority responsible for the new hospital, said: “We are facing a profound crisis requiring bold and unproven solutions. It is an honour to be asked to embrace the NHS Nightingale at a time of national emergency. We willingly accept the challenge and will finalise arrangements in the next few days.”
The Department of Health has announced that there are also plans to build NHS Nightingale wards in Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast. Contractors Bam, Interserve and Vinci are among those involved in creating a series of emergency hospitals across the UK to care for COVID-19 patients.
Armed Forces personnel are also part of the team that has been working around the clock to transform London’s Excel Centre into the new NHS Nightingale Hospital London.
