Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it the policy of the Government to use the Nightingale temporary hospitals as isolation hospitals for covid-19 patients so that other hospitals can prioritise patients without covid-19; and if he will make a statement.

The establishment of the Nightingale hospitals was an unprecedented response to an unprecedented challenge and they provided extra capacity to manage potential surges in demand due to COVID-19.

Now that we are coming through the peak of infection rates, it has been decided that the National Health Service currently has sufficient capacity to deal with anticipated demand.

As such, the Nightingale hospital in London has been placed on standby, but retains the capacity to stand up again should the need arise.

Work is underway to consider how the Nightingale Hospitals’ role may be adapted as the NHS seeks to resume activity that had to be paused in the first phase of our response to the pandemic.

The national Nightingale team will work with regions and host trusts to develop and assure regional proposals for the potential ongoing availability and function of the Nightingale Hospitals.