A Nightingale is reborn.

Yes that is good news,something good comes from something bad.

That's great. I thought there was a basic staffing problem everywhere but obviously not. Good news. Thanks for sharing.

Kim19

That's great. I thought there was a basic staffing problem everywhere but obviously not. Good news. Thanks for sharing.

Population growth in Devon is booming Kim19, way above the national average. I think it was nearly a 20% increase in Exeter last year, so more infrastructure like this hospital is needed. Somehow the area attracts a lot of NHS workers and carers, not just retired people, so I guess staffing isn't too much of an issue.
The Nightingale already has a ct installed and consulting rooms.
Yes, a leap forward out of the doom and gloom and a sensible decision being made.

ct scanner

Oh good they heard me shouting at the TV since forever then!

Excellent news, Ellianne. Let's hope other areas do something similar.

Interesting that Devon has a population boom - perhaps people realise that working from home for some does mean that home can be anywhere.

It’s wonderful news Ellianne. However, I have concerns re the staffing of such hospitals. We have insufficient medical staff, doctors in particular, and my own family are definitely not the only family of doctors who have fled to other shores during the pandemic. Let’s hope we can attract enough staff to come to the UK to work in these hospitals.

Good, positive news for a change.

According to a statement issued by the RD&E health authorities across the South west have actually had to purchase the Nightingale hospital which will start being used in the Autumn primarily for hosting diagnostic testing and ophthalmology, orthopaedic, and rheumatology services. They also intend to have 2 operating theatres for orthopaedics. There is a backlog of patients especially in North Devon so this will be a welcome addition. In May they received additional funding specifically to decrease waiting lists. It’s already provided over 6,ooo diagnostic tests.

They sat they will be recruiting extra staff so let’s hope they are successful.

They say

Callistemon

Excellent news, Ellianne. Let's hope other areas do something similar.

Interesting that Devon has a population boom - perhaps people realise that working from home for some does mean that home can be anywhere.

Yes, the independent school I taught at in West London is losing 45 pupils come September due to relocation. Mainly to Devon, Cornwall and Norfolk.
It is mainly young families heading west. Hopefully along with home workers, it also includes keyworker professionals too (NHS etc) to staff the new hospital as maddyone and 25Avalon say. London will undoubtedly find new blood from somewhere else.

At least one is being used, the similar one set up in Glasgow has closed and been disbanded unused. Our local high school has no places available for the influx of people coming to live on the coast from towns and cities all over the UK. Smaller rural high schools can't take this relocation surge, we have a lot from London and the south buying up here.

As far as I can remember, this was always the plan. The problem is staffing them. Glad this is happening.

I read somewhere that places at medical school to train young doctors had been increased and so in the future there should be more home grown doctors qualifying. I don't understand why the NHS continues to be so underfunded after years of neglect, I would have thought that those young people able to qualify for medical school could be funded so that more people from poorer backgrounds could also apply.

Good news. There was always a worry about staffing them, but it’s great to hear one’s going to be used.

Let’s hope they have sufficient staff for the hospital. So many Drs are now working part-time.

Living in Exeter is now even more of a bonus!

Crystal46

Living in Exeter is now even more of a bonus!

Except that is so much more busy than it used to be.

I’m glad to read they’re doing something useful with it.

Bil was a meteorologist at the Met Office in Berkshire Bracknell, and along with other scientists refused to relocate to Exeter. Too primitive and out of touch he called it. Roll on however many years, maybe 30, and he had big regrets. Exeter found new meteorologists to fill the vacancies and according to bil they had a better quality of life too.

It could be that the services there have been overstretched in the past decade or two and that the new hospital was going to have to happen.

That's great news. I hope the same will happen with other Nightingale hospitals all over the country. We need more hospitals to serve our expanding communities, not less.

That's brilliant news, but who will staff it? When they opened the Nightingale Hospitals to cover pandemic the biggest problem was they didn't have the staff to cover the shifts.

Great news for us here in the south west Ellianne !

I will be very surprised if they can get the staff needed. Doctors take years to train so even with the increase in training places,it will be years before we see more doctors in the NHS. Also the price of houses in Exeter are expensive so nurses would struggle to afford to live in the area on the wages they get.