THE region's first Nightingale Hospital has opened offering life-saving care for coronavirus patients in the face of the worst global health crisis for a century with health bosses pledging it is an insurance policy they are desperately hoping won’t be needed.

The Harrogate based NHS Nightingale Yorkshire and the Humber, which has 500 beds, was officially opened by Captain Tom Moore, Britain’s most famous war veteran, who has raised over £27m for the NHS.

It has been built with astonishing speed over the past three weeks by 600 people from the NHS, the Armed Forces and BAM construction.

The Northern Echo:

Captain Tom who will celebrate his 100th birthday on April 30 sat with daughter Hannah Ingram by his side as he opened the hospital, virtually. He said: “I’m absolutely in awe of what has happened. If you think all the kindness of the people in this country and throughout the world, who have given so much money to the fund to help our National Health Service, which you have got to agree is one of the best services that there is in the world.

“All the doctors and nurses in the NHS, they do a brilliant job in very difficult conditions and every day they’re putting themselves in harms way night and morning. They’re doing it with a determination that only they can do and they are continuing to do that and I think we must all say thank you very much to the National Health Service.”

Captain Tom, who came from Keighley originally, told the sparsely spaced auditorium: “I believe that there’s no place better than Yorkshire. There never has been and all the people who are missing coming to Yorkshire, they’re missing an awful lot of marvellous things and people, because the Yorkshire people have a sense of humour and kindness that not many people have.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who joined Captain Tom at the virtual opening, said: “This is a hospital that nobody would have ever wanted and it is a hospital we hope never to see full. But the fact you have been able to make this happen in such a short period of time is a testament to your capabilities, determination and your teamwork.

“And the most important thing about NHS Nightingale in Harrogate is it is a message to everybody that whatever happens we will strain every sinew to make sure the NHS is there for anyone who needs it.

“It’s an honour to be asked to open this hospital alongside Captain Tom Moore. During this worrying and difficult time for our whole country his phenomenal achievement has reminded us of our common bonds and served to further unite us.”

The Northern Echo:

Steve Russell, Chief Executive of the NHS Nightingale Hospital and Harrogate District NHS Foundation Trust, added: “This new hospital is an extraordinary achievement, and provides local people and staff with the reassurance that there will be additional beds available if they are required. It is a vital insurance policy, which we hope will not be needed.

“Our doctors, nurses, therapists and other health and social care staff are working incredibly hard to make sure people get the care they need during what is the single greatest challenge in the history of the NHS, but they can’t do it alone.The most important thing remains for the public to continue to stay at home.”

The new hospital gives the health service the capacity to move people out of intensive care in the main hospitals if they need to and will be only used for critical care of Covid-19 patients. The hospital is equipped with seven million litres of oxygen.

It took 30,000 hours to build and includes 13 miles of copper piping, 15,000sq m of vinyl and 18,000sq m of hygienic walls. It has a series of wards with 42 beds each.

The Northern Echo:

NHS Nightingale in Harrogate opened just two days after the first patients left the original 4,000 bed Nightingale Hospital in London, it’s the third in the UK following Birmingham with others at Bristol, Exeter, Manchester, and a seventh underway in a warehouse near Sunderland.