How many specialist beds does NHS have? A handful

THERE are only a handful of specialist beds that can be used to treat coronavirus patients across the NHS.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that in the event of a mass outbreak, there are between 16 and 26 ‘Special Isolation Unit’ beds south of the Border. If the number of cases suddenly rises, highly infectious coronavirus patients would have to be treated in less secure facilities.

The isolation beds are sealed in a plastic tent that does not allow any air to escape. The tent has arm holes that allow doctors and nurses to treat the patients.

Six years ago there were only two such beds in the NHS, both at the High Secure Infectious Diseases Unit at the Royal Free Hospital in North London.

The ebola outbreak in West Africa and cases of Middle East respiratory virus (MERS), another coronavirus, convinced NHS bosses that more were needed. They spent millions of pounds developing a network of ‘Special Isolation Units’ at six NHS hospitals in London, Newcastle, Liverpool and Sheffield. Five are for adults and three are for children.

The NHS trusts running the units last night refused to say how many beds were in each, as did the Department of Health and Social Care. But official documents published in October 2018 and seen by The Mail on Sunday reveal the small number.

The adult isolation units ‘are expected to have capacity to care for at least two and preferably four patients at a time’, while paediatric units should have ‘capacity to care for two children’, meaning there are between ten and 20 beds for adults and six for children.

A health department spokeswoman said each unit had a ‘surge capacity’, adding: ‘As well as these specialist sites there are 19 other NHS sites across the country which are able to step up their services to deliver this same level of care.’

That would bring the total number of highly secure isolation beds across the country to 50, she said.