Health minister praises workforce for efforts
In a video beamed into the opening ceremony for the new Nightingale facility, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care praised the NHS staff, military, contractors and volunteers who turned the site it into a 460-bed hospital in weeks.
Matt Hancock said: said: "Of course, we all hope that these extra beds will not all have to be used but I know you built this facility in a way that means you can adapt the hospital to changing clinical needs as work through the emergency and into the recovery phase continues."
NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens added: "Although it pleasingly looks as though we may be coming through the peak of the number of hospital in-patients, the reality is coronavirus is going to be with us for months if not years to come, so it makes absolute sense to have the buffer capacity in the event it is needed.”
"There's no doubt, whether it is for coronavirus patients, or convalescence or rehabilitation or other types of patients, it makes complete sense to have this reserve capacity that the Nightingale Hospitals represent."
It is hoped the hospital, which has 130 intensive care beds, will never see a patient but health chiefs say it is a necessary ‘insurance policy’.
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is operating the hospital because it has world-leading experts in the treatment of infectious diseases and has the frontline medical expertise and the support functions to deliver something of this scale and at this pace.
The North East’s very own Ant and Dec helped open the ceremony and joined celebrities and sports stars paying tribute to the NHS.