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Original poster

To wonder if the Nightingale Hospitals are open?

104 replies

christmaspigeon · 28/12/2020 17:26

I keep watching the BBC news and seeing how hospitals are at capacity and people waiting in ambulance bats. Does anyone know if they are using the new Nightingale hospitals? I suppose even if they are open there's only so many staff to go round. I feel so sorry for the NHS workers rushed off their feet

OP posts:
TitsOot4Xmas · 28/12/2020 18:02

[quote Littleyell]**@PerhapsOverlyWorried* yes you would think*. The Nightingales have been a facade from the start.[/quote]
Vaccinating paramedics, probably.

Bookriddle · 28/12/2020 18:03

My wife logged into nhs professionals last saturday, between 2 hospitals, there was 42 positions for overtime!
Last night she did a bank shift in itu, they have asked her to work tonight, because they dont have any senior nurses available to run itu, so my wife has agreed to go in, itu is not her normal ward at the moment, but they have job coming up in January that they have said is hers if she wants it, fortunately itu is her favourite place to work in the hospital!

There is no staff to run these nightingale hospitals

TitsOot4Xmas · 28/12/2020 18:03

Sorry, wrong quote. That was in response etc the Excel London point.

Dearmaria · 28/12/2020 18:04

The Louisa Jordan is open in Glasgow. I had a scan there just before christmas. It's being used to store the vaccine too apparently.

I still don't fully understand why they aren't used for covid patients though.

TitsOot4Xmas · 28/12/2020 18:05

@Dearmaria

The Louisa Jordan is open in Glasgow. I had a scan there just before christmas. It's being used to store the vaccine too apparently.

I still don't fully understand why they aren't used for covid patients though.

Read the thread......
Bookriddle · 28/12/2020 18:06

Also like to add, there is a reason her trust owes her 250 hours worth of pay, almost everytime she goes to work, they have 2 nurses for 30 patients, 15 patients each, she works 12 and half hours and most of the time she has no breaks!

Dearmaria · 28/12/2020 18:11

@TitsOot4Xmas yes I have read it, thank you Confused Staffing is an issue in other hospitals but the Louisa Jordan is open and has staff. So why no covid patients?

Pukkatea · 28/12/2020 18:12

Apparently the facilities, even if fully staffed, would be useless for any patient with comorbidities. So you can't be put there unless you happened to need ventilation but didn't have one single other thing wrong with you, which is obviously extremely unlikely as most people who need ventilation are either elderly or have other conditions.

safariboot · 28/12/2020 18:14

If there’s not enough staff to operate the nightingale hospitals, why were they built in the first place?

I suppose the logic was an understaffed hospital was better than no hospital.

But the Nightingale hospitals were built with patients sedated and on invasive ventilation, and that is no longer the favoured treatment for Covid-19, early treatment with a non-invasive oxygen mask is now preferred.

52andblue · 28/12/2020 18:19

The Nightingale Hospitals were one of the worst examples of the Govts reactive window dressing that I can imagine. Huge expense, no staff, and sadly (not the Govts fault this bit) the medical treatment they were set up for has now progressed to a better treatment. But they could have used them even then as a staging post for the elderly before they were all shoved back into care homes and cases surged there.
They could now have been used as modern clean facilities for mass vaccination, surely?

Phoenix21 · 28/12/2020 18:20

@Dearmaria

The Louisa Jordan is open in Glasgow. I had a scan there just before christmas. It's being used to store the vaccine too apparently.

I still don't fully understand why they aren't used for covid patients though.

Different nursing speciality required?
Phoenix21 · 28/12/2020 18:21

Excel was offered as govt was paying the owner bucketloads to counteract the loss of their events.

They scrapped the payment due to public outcry.

In context at the time the govt were being bollocked sideways and needed to be seen to do something.

KitKatastrophe · 28/12/2020 18:22

@PerhapsOverlyWorried

If there’s not enough staff to operate the nightingale hospitals, why were they built in the first place? Surely the first thing you do before undertaking a multi million pound adventure is ensure there will be the staff to run it?
Publicity. It looks good in the papers "look how much we are throwing at this problem". Notice that the fact that the one in London has been dismantled hasn't been in the news at all.
Whatelsecouldibecalled · 28/12/2020 18:23

Possible stupid question but who was supposed to staff them in the first place? Nhs staff were already at capacity and stupidly stretched in March and April. Who were they planning in staffing them then?

BritWifeinUSA · 28/12/2020 18:24

[quote Dearmaria]@TitsOot4Xmas yes I have read it, thank you Confused Staffing is an issue in other hospitals but the Louisa Jordan is open and has staff. So why no covid patients?[/quote]
A poster said she had a scan recently at Louisa Jordan. People who perform scans are the not the people who nurse and treat ICU patients. It’s a actually a good idea to have these places being used for routine things such as scans, blood tests, storing the vaccine, giving the vaccine, etc to reduce footfall in the hospitals. You don’t need to be in a hospital to have a scan.

80sColourfulChristmas · 28/12/2020 18:24

Harrogate is

ReceptacleForTheRespectable · 28/12/2020 18:26

@Dearmaria

The Louisa Jordan is open in Glasgow. I had a scan there just before christmas. It's being used to store the vaccine too apparently.

I still don't fully understand why they aren't used for covid patients though.

Have you not read the posts above?

To care for patients safely you need clinical staff. If the patients are to be cared for outside of a normal hospital, you need additional staff on top of those working at the hospital (because you cant just clear all the staff out of the hospital - they are needed to care for patients there). These additional staff never existed in the numbers required to safely fill the nightingales with patients.

If they ever do end up full of patients, those patients will be receiving next to no care or supervision because the staff still won't exist. A scary prospect, and one I hope doesn't materialise.

ReceptacleForTheRespectable · 28/12/2020 18:27

And yes, the staff who would do outpatient work - scans and routine blood tests etc. are not the same staff who care for extremely sick inpatients. Surely this is obvious?

winterbabythistime · 28/12/2020 18:29

They never had the staff for these hospitals anyway

Cocomarine · 28/12/2020 18:29

They could put the army on the doors, and use them as quarantine facilities for returning skiers... 🤔

ReceptacleForTheRespectable · 28/12/2020 18:30

@Cocomarine

They could put the army on the doors, and use them as quarantine facilities for returning skiers... 🤔
GrinGrin
PrincessNutNuts · 28/12/2020 18:33

Nicked off Twitter:

To wonder if the Nightingale Hospitals are open?
WhereToMissToTheStars · 28/12/2020 18:33

Is it true that they had not toilets or bathrooms?
I can’t believe it.

Phoenix21 · 28/12/2020 18:37

When was that dated @PrincessNutNuts?

It was mothballed over summer but there’s defo something happening over there.

Phoenix21 · 28/12/2020 18:38

@WhereToMissToTheStars

Is it true that they had not toilets or bathrooms? I can’t believe it.
Sadly, I think Excel was due to be end of life care.
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