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08
Mar 2021
Last Updated: 08/03/2021
NHS confirms Harrogate Nightingale to close
NHS England says existing hospitals have adapted to cope with the surge in covid patients. It adds the Harrogate Nightingale will continue to provide scans 'for as long it takes to return the building to it previous purpose'.
The NHS has confirmed that the Harrogate Nightingale hospital is to return to being a convention centre.
NHS England said in a statement today all seven Nightingales "will transition back to local NHS services" from next month.
It added the Harrogate site would continue to provide diagnostic testing "for as long it takes to return the building to it previous purpose".
So it is not clear precisely when the building will revert to its status as Harrogate Convention Centre and begin hosting events again.
The hospital has not treated a single covid patient but has provided CT scans to non-covid patients.
Read more:
- Harrogate Nightingale hospital set to be 'stood down'
- Call for inquiry into Harrogate's Nightingale hospital
An NHS spokesperson said:
“Since the very early days of the pandemic the Nightingale hospitals have been on hand as the ultimate insurance policy in case existing hospital capacity was overwhelmed but, as we have learned more about coronavirus, and how to successfully treat covid, existing hospitals have adapted to significantly surge critical care capacity and even in the winter wave – which saw more than 100,000 patients with the virus admitted in a single month – there were beds available across the country.
“Thank you to the many NHS staff and partners who worked so hard to set the Nightingales up so swiftly and of course the public who followed the guidance on controlling the spread of the virus and helped to prevent hospitals being overwhelmed.”
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