‘Nightingale’ hospital units to return in push to avoid extra Covid curbs

Temporary “Nightingale” field hospitals are to be revived under plans that could involve gyms and education centres being used to cope with the surge of Covid-19 cases in England, as ministers seek to avoid contentious new restrictions.

The number of Covid patients in English hospitals has been on the rise since the emergence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, and went above 10,000 on Wednesday for the first time since early March, according to the latest official data. The number of new Covid cases reported across the UK also jumped on Wednesday to 183,037, although the figures are likely to be inflated by reporting backlogs over the festive period.

Sajid Javid, health secretary, hopes that expanding emergency hospital capacity will take pressure off the NHS and remove the need for new curbs on the economy.

“Javid wants to do everything possible to avoid further restrictions,” said one government official, who said the booster vaccine rollout, testing, antiviral treatments and increasing hospital capacity were the priorities.

Boris Johnson would face huge resistance from his own cabinet and Tory MPs if he tried to stem the flow of Covid cases into hospitals by imposing new restrictions on the hospitality industry and social mixing.

Some extra physical capacity can help but it’s not a silver bullet with so many vacancies and staff off sick

However, the prime minister’s plea for “cautious” new year celebrations has been undermined by shortages of lateral flow and PCR tests — vital tools in stemming the spread of Covid-19 infection.

The creation of extra surge capacity in the NHS reflects concerns of a mid-January peak in hospital admissions that threatens to overwhelm a health system already struggling with severe staff shortages.

NHS England said temporary structures — each capable of housing about 100 patients — would be put up in the grounds of eight hospitals across the country, with work starting as early as this week.

The additional facilities, which will be located at sites including St George’s Hospital in London, Solihull Hospital near Birmingham and the Royal Preston Hospital, will take patients who are still too ill to be discharged but only require basic monitoring. NHS chiefs welcomed the initiative but warned that staffing them will present a serious challenge to a depleted workforce.

NHS trusts have also been asked to identify locations such as gyms and education centres that could be converted to accommodate patients. More temporary “Nightingale” sites could be added to create up to 4,000 “super surge” beds across the country.

The NHS is already using hotels, hospices and care homes to discharge as many people who are medically fit to leave as possible, clearing the way for an expected increase in Covid cases.

The new Nightingale units will be staffed by hospital consultants and nurses, alongside non-clinical staff who will be given rapid training to provide routine checks. Professor Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said the NHS was “now on a war footing”.

“We do not yet know exactly how many of those who catch the virus will need hospital treatment,” said Powis. “But given the number of infections we cannot wait to find out before we act and so work is beginning from today to ensure these facilities are in place.”

Javid said: “We hope the Nightingale surge hubs at hospitals will not have to be used but it is absolutely right that we prepare for all scenarios and increase capacity.”

The previous iteration of the Nightingale hospitals — built in the early months of the pandemic in 2020 — were set up to deal with a feared surge in patients requiring oxygen treatment.

However, fewer than 400 patients were admitted to the seven temporary hospitals in England during the first and second waves, according to official data. The facilities were closed in March this year.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents health leaders across the country, welcomed the move as a “back up insurance policy”. But he said staffing the additional units “would be a major challenge”.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, said the move was the latest example of NHS managers being “creative and pragmatic in the face of multiple demands”.

However, he warned that “staffing remains the rate-limiting factor in the health service”. “Some extra physical capacity can help but it’s not a silver bullet with so many vacancies and staff off sick,” he said.