Medical staff have started arriving at the Harrogate Nightingale Hospital in a major milestone for the project ahead of the official opening.

The NHS has not yet revealed when the hospital will open but the Harrogate Convention Centre has been a hive of activity for the past couple of weeks.

Just last week the Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and Humber turned blue to show support for the Clap For Carers event.

NHS and army staff have been working alongside BAM Construction “around the clock” to get the 500-bed facility up and running.

Eight of the convention centre’s halls will be used to accommodate level three critical care beds for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

The building firm behind the project previously said it expected construction work to finish by the weekend just gone.

Harrogate District Hospital has paid tribute to one of its nurses who died after contracting coronavirus.

Zauma Ekoli, known as Josie, had been working at the hospital as an agency worker for the past two years.

She was admitted to Leeds General Infirmary, a hospital where she used to work, last Tuesday after becoming unwell.

Just under a week later on Monday she died in the hospital.

Harrogate hospital said that she will be sadly missed by all her friends and colleagues and passed on its thoughts to her family.

The chief nurse at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, Jill Foster, said:

“Zauma Ekoli, known as Josie, was a much-valued agency nurse who has worked with the Trust for the past two years. She worked a range of shifts in a number of wards and departments. Josie will be sadly missed by all her friends and colleagues at Harrogate District Hospital and our thoughts are with her family at this difficult time.”

Firefighters in the Harrogate district have highlighted the dangers of sky lanterns and told people not to use them to show support for the NHS.

It comes after a London company which sells them urged people to “enlighten the sky with Union Jack lanterns” every Sunday evening.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue today dismissed the idea and highlighted the dangers associated with releasing sky lanterns.

A spokesperson said for the local fire service said:

We’re asking people not to use sky lanterns to show support for the NHS and key workers. Not only can they cause fires, they can also injure wildlife. Please find other ways to show your support instead.”

The National Fire Chiefs Council also warned that the sky lantern campaign is ‘misguided’ at a time when the emergency services are under increased pressure.

Harrogate District Hospital has reported that one of its patients who tested positive for coronavirus has died.

It brings the total number of deaths connected to COVID-19 at the hospital up to 25.

The death was reported yesterday and is part of a further 744 people who have died in England’s hospitals.

Patients were aged between 34 and 102 years old.

58 of those, aged between 38 and 96 years old, had no known underlying health conditions.

Across the UK, 813 people have died after contracting coronavirus.

These figures do not include deaths outside hospital, such as those in care homes.

It emerged today that the true number of deaths in the UK could be 15% higher than official figures released by the Department for Health and Social Care.

The Office for National Statistics said that the 15% increase accounts for deaths in the community and care homes.

Harrogate District Hospital has opened up an advice line for patients with cancer or suspected cancer to talk about treatment in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The telephone line will be staffed by administrative and nursing staff so that it has clinical oversight each day.

It will be open 9am to 12pm and 1pm to 4pm Mondays to Fridays excluding Bank Holidays. The number to call is 01423 557964.

Outside of those hours there will be a voicemail message that advises callers to contact NHS 11 or 999 in an emergency.

Anyone who has developed symptoms from their cancer treatment has been urged to call the Acute Oncology Helpline on 01423 555444.

Hospital cancels all non-urgent elective operations

It comes after the hospital was forced to cancel all non-urgent elective operations from April 15 – tomorrow – for at least three months.

Robert Harrison, Chief Operating Officer at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said:

Harrogate District Hospital has reported another coronavirus-related death, bringing the hospital’s total up to 17.

It is one of 92 deaths in the North East and Yorkshire region of 765 across England reported today. The total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England is now at 7,248.

The patient deaths reported today were aged between 24 and 103 years old. 43 of the 765 patients, aged between 33 and 99 years old, had no known underlying health conditions.

North Yorkshire currently has 328 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Figures for the number of patients who have been treated in hospital and discharged are not currently available.

Meanwhile, the Nightingale hospital being created at Harrogate Convention Centre is expected to be complete by this weekend.

A Harrogate man claims to be one of thousands who has fallen through the cracks of government support because he changed jobs after February 28.

Mark Foster left his office job in Leeds on good terms on March 13 to work at a Harrogate pub before joining the police’s new graduate scheme in July.

Just a couple of days into his new role, the pub he was working for had to close in line with government social distancing advice.

In response to the pandemic, the government announced a package of support that included the provision to furlough staff and pay 80% of their wages up to £2,500 a month.

But that support is only open for employees who were on payroll on February 28. The pub could only put Mark on unpaid leave and his previous employers refused to help.

He is one of over 64,000 people who has signed a petition to demand that the furlough scheme is opened up to new starters because it is a “major oversight.”

Mark has been left to rely on his partner Aimee Beckett, who is working as a digital content designer from home. He told the Stray Ferret:

“I am not entitled to Universal Credit because I have been put on unpaid leave and because my partner Aimee Beckett is still working. We are fortunate because we have some money saved up in a Help to Buy ISA but we don’t know how long we will be able to last. I don’t think that anybody is at fault. It is just a loophole in the government support that needs to be filled. I have been paying tax and national insurance for over ten years but when I need support it isn’t there.”

Mark Foster (left) says he is being punished for trying to further his career.

The pressure is increasing on the Chancellor Rishi Sunak to open up the furlough scheme to new starters with the Chair of the Treasury Committee admitting that “urgent action is needed.”

Mel Stride MP has sent the following letter to the Chancellor:

“The Chancellor has provided a detailed explanation of the support measures that he has announced so far. However, as the summaries of evidence that we have published show, some people appear to have been left behind. Significant progress has been made and millions of people will be helped by the Government’s schemes, but some people have slipped through the net.”

Harrogate District Hospital bosses have welcomed the government’s decision to write off its £4.8 million debt.

The hospital took out the multi-million-pound loan to pay back its suppliers more quickly but said the “reset of finances” was helpful going forward.

107 hospital trusts have an average of £100 million in revenue debt, with the two trusts with the highest debts reaching a combined total of over £1 billion.

In total, the government will write off £13.4 billion of NHS debt to ensure hospitals have the “necessary funding and support to respond to coronavirus.”

Under new rules, hospitals in need of extra cash will be given it with equity, rather than needing to borrow from the government and repay a loan.

Jonathan Coulter, finance director at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“The loan we took out was to enable us to be able to pay our suppliers more quickly. In line with the rest of the NHS, we think this ‘reset’ of finances is helpful for trusts both at this point in time and going forward over the coming years.”

The government has said that while many NHS trusts manage strong finances, some took out loans to plug financial gaps in their day-to-day revenue or capital infrastructure budgets.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:

“As we tackle this crisis, nobody in our health service should be distracted by their hospital’s past finances. Today’s £13.4 billion debt write off will wipe the slate clean and allow NHS hospitals to plan for the future and invest in vital services.”

The building firm behind Harrogate’s Nightingale Hospital expects to have completed the project by this weekend after just two weeks.

NHS and army staff have been working alongside BAM Construction “around the clock” to get the 500-bed facility up and running.

The NHS has not yet confirmed when the facility will be able to accept patients.

It comes less than a week after the NHS confirmed that it was converting the Harrogate Convention Centre into a Nightingale Hospital.

Eight of the convention centre’s halls will be used to accommodate level three critical care beds for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Paul Cleminson, a pre-construction director for BAM Construction, said:

“We have mobilised immediately with a team which is working 24 hours in shifts around the clock. We’re very proud to be involved. BAM Construction has even built emergency hospitals during both World Wars. So we feel a sense of poignancy to be doing this now.”

BAM Construction also says it is close to being asked to build a further two emergency Nightingale Hospitals.

Police have stepped up patrols in Harrogate after they’ve seen an increase in the number of people visiting the town and flouting the coronavirus lockdown rules.

It comes after reports of people having picnics, residents drinking in the streets, groups congregating in the town centre and people meeting up for walks.

Penny Taylor, Harrogate’s neighbourhood policing inspector, said it was disappointing to need to increase patrols.

“It is unacceptable that some people are showing such a blatant disregard for the Government’s guidance. To those who think the rules don’t apply to them, please remember our NHS colleagues and the very difficult job they are doing right now and please remember the people who’ve lost their loved ones and the reasons why these restrictions are now part of our way of life.”

North Yorkshire Police previously insisted that they would enforce the coronavirus lockdown with fines between £30 and £1,000.