Nightingale hospitals placed on ‘standby’ to deal with coronavirus second wave

As Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, prepares to set out the new coronavirus restrictions in England, some of the country’s specialized Covid-specific field hospitals have been placed on high alert.

Initially set up at the onset of the pandemic in March, the National Health Service’s (NHS) so-called Nightingale hospitals were set up and managed by the British army.

There was widespread suspicion at the beginning that the army had taken the lead in setting up the Covid-specific field hospitals as part of a propaganda drive.

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These suspicions appeared to be validated – at least in part – after it was revealed that the main Nightingale field hospital in London had only treated 51 Covid-19 patients.

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But now it is being reported that Nightingale field hospitals in Manchester, Sunderland and Harrogate have been told to prepare to start accepting coronavirus infected patients.

The news was revealed by England’s deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, at a Downing Street coronavirus news briefing on October 12.

According to Professor Jane Eddleston (a Manchester-based consultant in intensive care – who was also attending the news briefing), 40 percent of all Covid-19 infections are concentrated in the North West.

For his part, professor Van-Tam claimed that the “Covid situation” is “building nationally”, particularly in the North West and the North East, hence necessitating the opening of Nightingale hospitals in these areas.

But in view of their under-use at the onset of the pandemic – during the so-called first wave of infections – it remains to be seen just how important the Nightingale hospitals prove to be in the second wave of the disease.

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