NHS Nightingale Hospitals

On 27 March, chief executive of NHS England Sir Simon Stevens announced a temporary facility providing up to 5,000-beds at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre would open in mid-April.[9] The hospital became operational on 10 April, with an initial 804 beds followed within 2 weeks by an additional 384 beds.,[10][11][12] It was officially opened as NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham by Prince William, using a video link, on 16 April.[13] The hospital was designed as a 'step down facility', for patients recovering from COVID-19 or those not suitable for ventilation.[14]

On 5 May, it was announced that the 1188 bed hospital would be placed on standby, having admitted no patients.[15]

On 3 April, NHS England announced that a hospital for the Bristol area was to be built in University of the West of England (UWE).[16] The hospital is stated to have a planned capacity of up to 300 beds and is located in the Exhibition and Conference Centre on UWE Bristol's Frenchay campus.[17] Spare student accommodation is also to be made available for doctors and nurses at the Frenchay campus.[17] The hospital will have space to provide up to 1,000 beds, if necessary.[18]

According to the vice-chancellor of UWE, Steve West, all buildings and car parks required for the hospital have been leased to the NHS for a fee of £1, for as long as is needed.[19]

This hospital was officially opened on 27 April 2020, in a virtual ceremony, by Matt Hancock (health secretary), Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and the chief executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens.[20] It has the capacity to care for 60 patients, with the ability to scale up to 300 if required.

On 10 April, it was announced that a temporary hospital is to be provided in Exeter.[21] The hospital, was originally expected to be built in Westpoint Arena near Clyst St Mary, and provide 200 beds, is due to be ready for use in early May.[22] With the number of Covid-19 cases in the catchment area being lower than originally expected, the decision was taken to switch its location to the smaller site of a former retail outlet in Sowton for the hospital.[20]

On 3 April, a hospital for Harrogate, Yorkshire was announced by NHS England, with a 500-bed capacity, in the Harrogate Convention Centre.[16] Tom Moore, a 99-year-old army veteran who had raised more £27M to support health service workers, officially opened the hospital on 21 April 2020.[23]

NHS Nightingale Hospital London during its refit on 30 March 2020

On 24 March 2020, the UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock, who is responsible for the NHS in England, announced that ExCeL London would be the first field hospital. It was planned to initially have 500 beds, with the capacity for 4,000–5,000 beds across its two wards if necessary later.[24][9]

Also on 3 April, the London hospital became the first to enter service when it was officially opened by Prince Charles by videolink.[25]

On 4 May 2020, it was announced that the hospital would be placed on standby, and would not admit any new patients.[26]

On 27 March, Simon Stevens also announced that a 1,000-bed hospital was to be provided in the Manchester Central Convention Complex, also due to open in mid-April.[9]

The hospital was ready to receive patients on Easter Sunday, 13 April 2020.[27][28] The official opening, by Duchess of Cornwall in a recorded speech, took place on 17 April 2020.[29]

On 10 April, it was announced that a 460-bed facility would be built in Washington, Tyne and Wear.[21] The hospital, at the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing, was expected to be ready for use within two weeks.[30]

The hospital was officially opened on 5 May 2020, in a virtual ceremony, by Matt Hancock (Secretary of State for Health). The opening ceremony also featured television celebrities Ant and Dec, football pundit Alan Shearer and cricketer Ben Stokes.[31]