Nightingale hospitals ‘remain on standby’ as London hospitals overwhelmed by Covid patients Harriet Brewis UP NEXT
London’s Nightingale hospital remains on standby for use, NHS chiefs have insisted, even though some equipment is being dismantled from the site.
Items including beds and ventilators, which were initially at the ExCel centre site in the capital when it opened in April, are no longer there, according to reports.
But a spokesperson for NHS England said: “The Nightingale in London remains on standby and will be available to support the capital’s hospitals if needed.
“In the meantime it is vital that Londoners do everything possible to reduce transmission and cut the number of new infections which otherwise inevitably result in more avoidable deaths.”
Medical staff transfer a patient from an ambulance to the Royal London hospital. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
NHS bosses are set to cancel urgent surgery across London in a move that could mean cancer patients waiting months for potentially lifesaving operations, the
Observer can reveal.
NHS England chiefs are considering the drastic action because hospitals across the capital are becoming overwhelmed by people who are very sick with Covid-19.
The operations likely to be cancelled, known as “priority two” procedures, mainly involve surgery for cancer where specialists have judged that the patients need to be operated on within four weeks. Any delay could allow their tumour to grow, the disease to spread, or both, thus reducing their chances of survival.
N
HS Nightingale in London is being readied for use if needed as Covid-19 patient numbers continue to rise.
The news comes as the number of people suffering from the virus soars with a further 50,023 new cases on Wednesday, as well as 981 more deaths within 28 days of a positive test - more than double of Tuesday s total.
The NHS in London has been asked to make sure the ExCeL centre site is reactivated and ready to admit patients as hospitals in the capital struggle.
Over the past weeks, doctors and other healthcare workers have used social media to express the mounting pressure they face as the virus spreads.
Nightingale hospitals across England being prepped as Covid patient numbers rise
The facilities have been described as a last resort
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