Fourth Nightingale Hospital opens in Harrogate

Published: 22-Apr-2020

500-bed emergency field hospital will help treat those affected by coronavirus

The fourth NHS Nightingale hospital has opened in Harrogate to help cope with the pressure on the health service caused by coronavirus.

Designed by BDP, which was also responsible for the facilities already launched in London, Birmingham and Manchester; the NHS Nightingale Hospital Harrogate opened at Harrogate Convention Centre (HCC) in North Yorkshire yesterday (Tuesday).

Providing a temporary 500-bed level-three critical care field hospital for COVID-19 patients, the unit covers 10,253 sq m of the Grade II listed building.

The opening was overseen, via video link, by guest of honour, war veteran Captain Tom Moore, who has raised over £20m for the NHS effort by completing 100 laps of his garden before his upcoming 100th birthday.

In order to create the specialist hospital, BDP worked under main contractor, BAM, collaborating with clinicians, consultants, contractors and the British Army to deliver the facility in phases, the first of which has now been completed.

The exhibition halls vary in shape, size and location, requiring bed bay configuration plans and ward facilities to be adjusted for each floor, in a process which took just two weeks.

Architect director, Mihalis Walsh, said: “These hospitals are a result of exceptional collaboration in truly-unprecedented circumstances.

”People are all too aware of the need for these projects to be completed in the time allocated and all of our teams have been working tirelessly to ensure that this happens.”

The construction of the hospital required:

  • 13 miles of copper
  • 15,000sq m of vinyl
  • 18,000sq mof hygienic walls
  • 1,000 pieces of IT equipment with 100 miles of cable
  • More than 7 million litres of oxygen
  • More than 600 people working together from a number of organisations including the NHS, BAM Construction and the Armed Forces
  • More than 30,000 hours of labour

The hospital is the fourth to open in England, with others due to launch in Glasgow, Cardiff, Bristol, and Belfast.

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