Nightingale hospitals in Manchester, Sunderland & Harrogate have been asked “to mobilise” in coming weeks, NHS England’s medical director Steve Powis has announced.
They are being asked to get ready to accept patients whether that’s Covid-19 patients or people recovering from the virus.
They could be asked to provide “elective and diagnostic services” for patients with conditions other than the virus, he added saying that there will be regular testing for staff in high-risk areas, even when they don’t have symptoms.
Dr Jane Eddleston, Greater Manchester medical lead, says 30% of critical care beds in the area have been taken up with Covid cases and adds that this is “starting to impact services we provide for other patients”.
North west England has about 40% of all of the country’s Covid cases, which is “proving challenging”. she added
@Within Greater Manchester, we have seen a threefold increase in the number of patients admitted to intensive care in the last five weeks and an eightfold increase in the number of patients admitted to our hospitals.“
