Northern Ireland

Nightingale Hospital to be temporarily stood down

The Nightingale Hospital is to be wound down
The Nightingale Hospital is to be wound down The Nightingale Hospital is to be wound down

Northern Ireland's Nightingale hospital for treating Covid-19 patients is being temporarily stood down, the health minister has confirmed.

The Irish News reported last week that plans were being made to wind down the 230-bed facility at Belfast's City Hospital's tower block.

The Nightingale hospital treated 30 people in intensive care beds at the height of the first wave of virus infection, health minister Robin Swann said.

The north's rate of infection stands at 0.79, meaning less than one person is catching it for every confirmed case.

Mr Swann added: "It was one of the key strategic tools for tackling Covid-19.

"We are not doing away with it, it will be there if we have need for it."

Medics from around Northern Ireland were brought in to staff a dedicated hospital introduced in an effort to stop the health system from being overwhelmed.

Mr Swann added: "It is a testimony to the work that they did that we are able to bring it down."

He said the decision was made based on the number of coronavirus cases the hospital was now dealing with.

Chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride said reducing the health service's escalation level will ensure it is able to respond and redeploy to non-Covid-19 cases.

Doctors would be able to deal with urgent surgeries and treatments.

Dr McBride added: "We have to undertake that gradually and cautiously."

Ministers have also agreed a range of measures aimed at tackling clusters of infection in care homes, including drafting in extra NHS nurses.

Read more: 40 nurses plus Ambulance Service to test care home residents in 'intensive support' measure

Two more deaths of patients who tested positive for Covid-19 have been recorded, the Department of Health said today.

It brings total fatalities, mainly in hospitals, to 449.

Dr McBride warned: "This virus has not gone away. The peak we have seen is a peak we have created."

He said it was because of the steps they had taken to limit contact that the virus' spread had been reduced.

"That is why it is crucially important to keep that R number below one," he added.

Mr Swann said ministers had decided not to set dates for easing the lockdown on social movement because his department and experts had pressed for it.

First Minister Arlene Foster said she hopes to be "long past" the final step of the Executive's plan for easing lockdown by December.

Frustration was expressed by some in the business community when the five-step plan was announced without any time frame.

But Ms Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill highlighted their determination to be led by the science, not the calendar, as they published their recovery blueprint on Tuesday.

Ms Foster said: "This is a step-by-step process, it is a graduated process, and at all times we have to look at the prospect - and I hope it's not something that will happen - that we may have to move backwards again if the R number goes above one."

Read more: 40 nurses plus Ambulance Service to test care home residents in 'intensive support' measure