‘Life or death’ coronavirus patients TURNED AWAY from NHS Nightingale hospital because of a lack of nurses, says report
LIFE or death coronavirus patients have reportedly been turned away from the NHS Nightingale hospital in London because it did not have enough staff to look after them.
Leaked NHS documents reportedly show that the field hospital - which was built in just nine days at the ExCel Centre - has turned away more patients than it has treated.
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NHS Nightingale in the capital's docklands has reportedly been unable to admit 50 people suffering from Covid-19 who were in need of "life or death" care, according to the doc seen by .
It is reported 30 of these patients were rejected due to "staffing issues" while due to be transferred from other London hospitals.
All requiring treatment had been intubated and were on a ventilator because of the coronavirus.
The other 20 had been rejected on medical grounds, such as being too unwell for a transfer or not meeting the criteria to be treated at Nightingale.
The hospital - which is designed to include almost 4,000 beds - reportedly has so far only treated 41 patients as of Monday.
The figures mean that the makeshift hospital has rejected more patients than it has treated during the outbreak.
NHS Nightingale was the first facility of its kind constructed to help Britain fight against the pandemic, being built in just nine days and before being opened by health secretary Matt Hancock and Prince Charles on April 3.
It paved the way for more of the temporary hospitals to be built around the country, such as in Birmingham and Harrogate.
NHS bosses defended the hospital saying that patients are being treated successfully and its capacity has not been needed as there remains spare critical care places across London.
The revelation comes as the UK death toll rose by 828 - taking the total figure to 17,337 - as the government confirmed trials will soon begin on a vaccine.
Sources claimed that the hospital has to reject patients as they cannot get enough critical nurses transferred to work there from other London hospitals - where they are being "run ragged".
A senior intensive care doctor said: "The Nightingale is clearly not a hospital.
"It’s an emergency overflow facility to ventilate patients to stop them from dying when hospitals have run out of space."
Nightingale admitted its first patient on April 7, and rejected a planned transfer from another London hospital for the first time on April 9.
NHS London chief Sir David Sloman wrote a letter on Friday asking for around 200 doctors and nurses to be transferred to Nightingale to help the hospital treat people needing critical care.
It is hoped the hospital can take the strain of coronavirus patients to allow regular hospitals to resume operations - and a source said there are "plenty of doctors".
London hospitals are reportedly feeling the strain as Nightingale has been unable help relieve the pressure - with transfers reportedly being blocked from hospitals Northwick Park, Royal Free, St Mary's, the Royal London and North Middlesex.
One senior official said Nightingale has "not been needed" as the number of cases hasn't been high enough, calling the field hospital a "white elephant".
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The official added that Nightingale was develop amid fears London would end up being overrun like New York or Italy, with the case numbers doubling every three days and the need for mass graves.
It is believed now the UK has passed its first peak during the outbreak, with questions now being asked about when to ease the lockdown.
At the weekend, Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said: ";We have not yet had to make extensive use of the Nightingale London thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, who have freed up more than 30,000 existing hospital beds, and the public, who have played their part by staying at home and saving lives."
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Responding to the report in The Guardian, an NHS London spokesman said: “The most important point about staff at the Nightingale is that thanks to their care and expertise, patients in that hospital are being successfully treated, discharged and ultimately having their life saved.
“There remains spare capacity in the critical care network across the capital to look after all coronavirus patients and others who need our care."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman added: “It is misleading to suggest coronavirus patients are being turned away from NHS Nightingale due to a shortage of staff.
“NHS Nightingale has been set up to treat patients if the NHS was overwhelmed but thanks to the great work of selfless NHS staff, there is spare capacity in existing London hospitals to treat all coronavirus patients there instead.”
