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21
Apr 2020
The Nightingale hospital being created at Harrogate Convention Centre will be officially opened today, with three high profile names set to take part in the ceremony.
Captain Tom Moore, the veteran who has raised more than £27m for NHS Charities Together, will join Health Secretary Matt Hancock and NHS chief executive Simon Stevens via video link this afternoon.
One of seven of its kind around the country, NHS Nightingale Yorkshire and the Humber has been constructed in less than three weeks and will offer 500 beds for coronavirus patients should existing local services be unable to meet demand.
NHS England says it has already freed up 33,000 additional beds and, in an unprecedented deal, has access to 8,000 beds through the independent healthcare sector. As a result, it says, capacity still exists in hospitals but Nightingale hospitals will be ready to take patients if needed.
Steve Russell, chief executive of NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and The Humber, and of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This new NHS Nightingale Hospital – like the others across the country - is an extraordinary achievement, and provides local people and staff with the reassurance that there will be additional beds available if they are required. It is a vital insurance policy, which we hope will not be needed.
The huge effort by NHS staff, members of the armed forces and the team at Harrogate Convention Centre was praised by Mr Hancock. He said:
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