EIGHT new temporary Nightingale hubs will be built across England but there are no plans to bring back the NHS Louisa Jordan, the Scottish Government has confirmed.
It has been reported that the interim structures in England will be capable of housing 100 patients and will be erected in the grounds of eight hospitals, many of them in car parks.
The first wave of the “surge hubs” will be built at hospitals including the Royal Preston in the north west, three hospitals including Solihull in the Midlands, and St George’s in London, amongst others.
According to ITV, NHS trusts have also been asked to identify other areas such as gyms or education centres that can be converted to accommodate patients, in hopes that more sites could be added to create up to 4000 beds around England.
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It comes as daily coronavirus cases in Scotland hit a record high for the second consecutive day, at 16,857.
First Minsiter Nicola Sturgeon also took to social media to address the rise in the number of people in hospital with the virus in Scotland - which jumped by 131 to 810 in 24 hours.
However, the Scottish Government said there were no plans to bring back the NHS Louisa Jordan, and added that the equipment from the temporary site, which was closed in July, has been redistributed to vaccination centres across the country.
Asked if the Scottish Government had similar plans to introduce “surge hubs” to deal with rising hospitalisation numbers, a spokesperson said: “We are looking at a range of options that include expanding the capacity we have in hospitals and in the community such as ‘hospital at home’ which is where patients that would normally require a level of acute care in hospital can receive treatment at home.
The NHS Louisa Jordan, hosted in the SEC, closed in July
“We are working closely with NHS Boards on increasing capacity and maximising the workforce to ensure patients receive their care in the right place at the right time.
“This includes discharging patients when it is clinically safe to do so to free up capacity within our hospitals.”
It comes as NHS national medical director Professor Stephen Powis said that due to the high level of Covid infections and increasing hospital admission, the NHS is on a “war footing”.
He said: “We do not yet know exactly how many of those who catch the virus will need hospital treatment, but given the number of infections we cannot wait to find out before we act and so work is beginning from today to ensure these facilities are in place.
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"We hoped never to have to use the original Nightingales and I hope we never to have to use these new hubs."
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid said: "We’ve backed the NHS at every turn throughout this pandemic to make sure it provides the care and treatment people need. I want to thank the tireless efforts of our health workers on the frontline who are delivering for patients every day.
"We hope the Nightingale surge hubs at hospitals will not have to be used but it is absolutely right that we prepare for all scenarios and increase capacity."
The UK Government has refused to bring in further restrictions over the festive season despite the rising number of Covid-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant.
The new Nightingale hubs will take patients who are not yet ready to be discharged but need minimum care and monitoring while they recover, theoretically freeing up regular ward beds for those with the most intensive needs.
This could include patients recovering from Covid-19 who are no longer infectious and don’t need intensive oxygen therapy, with the units led by hospital consultants and nurses, but supported by other clinical and non-clinical staff.
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