Manchester Central has been turned into a makeshift hospital.
Manchester will be doing its bit amid the Coronavirus pandemic, with convention venue Manchester Central transformed into a hospital to help the NHS with increased demand for hospital beds.
The facility will be able to hold approximately 1,000 patients if required and will serve the entire North West region during the pandemic. Confirming in a tweet following a press conference with NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens, BBC North West said it “will be staffed by armed forces personnel”.
CEO of the hospital, Michael McCourt announced today (Easter Monday) that the hospital is now ready to accept patients, after workers put the finishing touches on the place and wheeled in beds and equipment over the bank holiday weekend.
1st tweet as CEO NHS Nightingale North West. Proud & thankful to be able to say we take our first patients today. In 14 days huge NHS, Army & NHS partner effort this hospital is open. A lot of attention on us but don’t want to forget we are here to support an already busy NW NHS.
— Michael McCourt (@MichaelMcCourt1) April 13, 2020
The tweet read: “1st tweet as CEO NHS Nightingale North West. Proud & thankful to be able to say we take our first patients today. In 14 days huge NHS, Army & NHS partner effort this hospital is open. A lot of attention on us but don’t want to forget we are here to support an already busy NW NHS.”
It is expected that the facility will cater for ‘medium’ cases of the virus, with more severe cases to be treated in existing hospital facilities.
Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said in a statement:
“As the owners of Manchester Central Convention Complex, we have worked with the Ministry of Defence and health services to make the building urgently available for this vital use. The need to establish this new hospital underlines the serious nature of the Covid-19 pandemic we all face but also shows how seriously it is being responded to and I hope the public are reassured by the swiftness of this action.”