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The NHS Nightingale Hospital London was the first of the NHS Nightingale Hospitals, temporary hospitals set up by
NHS England NHS England, officially the NHS Commissioning Board, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of th ...
for the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
. It was housed in the
ExCeL London ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House, Newham, Custom House area of London Borough of Newham, Newham, East London. It is sit ...
convention centre in East London. The hospital was rapidly planned and constructed, being formally opened on 3 April and receiving its first patients on 7 April 2020. It served 54 patients during the first wave of the pandemic, and was used to serve non-COVID patients and provide vaccinations during the second wave. It was closed in April 2021.


Background

To add extra critical care capacity during the
COVID-19 pandemic in the UK The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirm ...
, and to treat those with
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...
, plans were made to create further temporary hospital spaces for those in need of treatment and care. They were named "Nightingale Hospitals", after
Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...
, a nurse who came to prominence during the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included t ...
and is regarded as the founder of modern
nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...
.


History


Planning and construction

On 21 and 22 March 2020, military planners and NHS England staff visited
ExCeL London ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House, Newham, Custom House area of London Borough of Newham, Newham, East London. It is sit ...
– an exhibition and convention centre in the
Custom House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...
area of Newham,
East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
– to "determine if the armed forces could support the NHS response to the outbreak". Plans to create the hospital were announced in a press briefing by Health Secretary Matt Hancock on 24 March. The hospital would be run by NHS staff and volunteers, with 700 military personnel providing logistic assistance. The facility was planned and constructed in conjunction with the
British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, ...
and British architects BDP, with the mission being run from the Headquarters Standing Joint Command in
Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alde ...
, which coordinates resilience missions for the UK. The main contractor was CFES. The facility was formally opened on 3 April 2020 by the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...
(via video link) in a ceremony during which the hospital's Head of Nursing unveiled a plaque. The first patients were admitted on 7 April. The television medical drama '' Holby City'' uses operational ventilators on set, and these were donated to the hospital.


First wave (March - May 2020)

Over the course of the first wave of the COVID pandemic in the United Kingdom, the hospital treated only 54 patients. Preexisting permanent hospitals had successfully managed to increase their intensive care capacity to respond to the growing demands of the pandemic, and as a result the Nightingale Hospital was surplus to requirements. On 21 April 2020, ''The Guardian'' reported that staff at the hospital had claimed that the hospital had been "obliged to reject people needing care because it cannot get enough of the nurses usually based in other hospitals to work there". This allegation was rebutted by a
Department of Health and Social Care The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwis ...
spokesperson, who stated that no coronavirus patients were being refused treatment due to a shortage of staff as the new hospital was to provide overflow capacity if required.


Second wave and vaccinations (January 2021)

During the second wave of COVID-19, the hospital reopened for patients recovering from COVID, and patients being treated for non-COVID ailments. Following the development of the first COVID-19 vaccines, in January 2021 another part of the ExCeL centre was reconfigured to provide COVID vaccinations.


Permanent closure

In March 2021, it was announced the hospital would permanently close the following month, along with the other Nightingale Hospitals constructed at the beginning of the pandemic.


Operational details

The hospital's role was to treat patients already intubated and ventilated at other London hospitals. On 30 March 2020 it was announced that legal responsibility for the hospital would be passed to Barts Health NHS Trust, an existing NHS trust, as NHS England does not have legal powers to manage a hospital directly. The hospital's CEO was Charles Knight, seconded from within the Barts trust. The hospital was designed with capacity to receive and discharge up to 150 patients per day, with the number of staff required at full capacity being reported as 16,000 and later as 25,000.


Criticism

Partially due to its low occupancy and large cost to the taxpayer, the London Nightingale Hospital, along with its counterparts across the country, saw some criticism. Critics argued that the hospitals had been poorly planned, and were little more than a PR stunt. Supporters argued that the hospitals were "insurance" against the possibility of the pandemic completely overwhelming existing hospitals. It has been claimed that one reason that the hospitals saw little use was that existing healthcare centres were reluctant to release staff to work in them, a reflection of a lack of understanding of the structure of the workforce in the healthcare sector.


See also

*
NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham The NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham was the second of the temporary NHS Nightingale Hospitals set up by NHS England to help to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. It was constructed inside the National Exhibition Centre, Solihull, and ope ...
* NHS Nightingale Hospital North West *
NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber The NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the temporary NHS Nightingale Hospitals set up by NHS England in 2020 to help to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospital was constructed inside the Harrogate Convention Cent ...
* NHS Louisa Jordan – a similar temporary hospital in Glasgow * Dragon's Heart Hospital – a similar temporary hospital in Cardiff


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nightingale Hospital Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Newham Health in the London Borough of Newham NHS hospitals in London Defunct hospitals in London
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
Hospitals established in 2020 2020 establishments in England Hospitals disestablished in 2021 2021 disestablishments in England