Subscribe to trusted local news
If you are accessing this story via Facebook but you are a subscriber then you will be unable to access the story. Facebook wants you to stay and read in the app and your login details are not shared with Facebook. If you experience problems with accessing the news but have subscribed, please contact subscriptions@thestrayferret.co.uk. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
07
Feb 2022
NHS writes off £13m in Nightingale hospital beds cost
NHS managers have written off £13 million after beds bought for Nightingale hospitals could not be used for patients on other wards.
The seven Nightingale sites included a facility at Harrogate Convention Centre — which cost £31.6 million to set up and run. However, it didn't treat a single covid patient.
According to NHS England accounts, the beds bought for the sites were “bespoke beds for field hospitals” and did not meet the requirement for existing hospitals.
The figure also includes storage costs at the facilities.
The accounts say:
The NHS has set up Nightingale surge hubs as part of its response to the Omicron covid variant. However, St James' University Hospital in Leeds was chosen over Harrogate for a facility.
Read more:
- Inquiry reveals Harrogate Nightingale cost £31.6 million
- WATCH: NHS takes down Nightingale hospital in Harrogate
The 500-bed hospital at Harrogate Convention Centre was one of seven Nightingale hospitals set up at the start of the covid pandemic in March 2020. It was dismantled last year.
An inquiry revealed that of its £31.6 million costs, £17 million was spent on building and dismantling works, £10.4 million on running costs and £4.1 million on equipment.
A further £1.1 million was spent on security and around £500,000 on cleaning and food.
Members of West Yorkshire Joint Health Overview Scrutiny Committee launched the inquiry into the hospital after raising questions over why it was not used to treat any covid patients and how it would have been staffed if needed.
The committee concluded that while these questions remain unanswered, the need for the Nightingale hospitals across the UK showed there was insufficient critical care capacity in regular hospitals.
0