Coronavirus: New Nightingale Hospital to open in Manchester

Two new NHS Nightingale Hospitals will open in Manchester and Birmingham to provide care to thousands more patients with coronavirus.

The hospital based at the Manchester Central Complex will provide up to 500 beds, but could expand further to 1,000 beds for coronavirus patients across the North West of England.

The hospital based at the NEC in Birmingham will start with up to 500 beds equipped with the capacity to increase beds up to 2,000 if needed.

The new hospitals will provide support for patients from across the North West and the Midlands.

Confirmation that the two new NHS Nightingale sites are going ahead came as NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens revealed that the NHS has freed up 33,000 beds across existing NHS hospitals for coronavirus patients, the equivalent of 50 new hospitals.

He said: “It will take a monumental effort from everyone across the country to beat this epidemic, but the NHS is mobilising like never before to deliver care in new ways, to thousands more people - starting with the opening of the first NHS Nightingale in London later next week.

“These are extraordinary steps the NHS is taking, and clinicians, managers and military planners are working day and night to create, equip and staff these hospitals from scratch and prepare for the surge that is likely to be coming.

“While we continue to pull out all the stops, we do need the public to play their part.

"Every single person in this country can make a difference by following the medical advice to the letter - stay at home, wash your hands, which will help stop the virus letting rip and will therefore save lives.”

The new hospitals will draw from predominantly NHS doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals from across the country.

A number of military medics will be on hand to care for patients too.

The new hospitals are part of a huge NHS mobilisation plan to deal with the growing number of coronavirus patients.

More than 18,000 doctors, nurses and other former NHS staff have already volunteered to return to fight the virus.

Staff members are then being put in touch with their local NHS services where a role based on their clinical skills and work history is found.

The opportunity to rejoin the NHS continues to be open to all former NHS staff from the last three years - even if they haven’t been contacted by their medical regulator.

All former staff that join the ‘NHS army’ are given a full induction and online training to help them to hit the ground running.

The renewed call comes after the NHS extended its 'Your NHS needs you' call to the general public, with already more than 725,000 people volunteering to help deliver medicines from pharmacies, drive patients to appointments, bringing patients home from hospital and making regular phone calls to check on people isolating at home.

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