BBC donates fully working ventilators from the set of Holby City to the new Nightingale Hospital

The BBC has donated fully working ventilators from the set of medical drama Holby City to the new Nightingale Hospital in London

The corporation shared the news in a tweet, showing workers loading equipment into a van.

Holby City executive producer Simon Harper said: ‘We are only too happy to help out and do what we can for the courageous and selfless real-life medics.’

The BBC has donated fully operational ventilators which were on the set of the medical drama Holby City. The machines arrived a the NHS Nightingale Hospital in London yesterday 

The BBC said they were happy to donate their ventilators to help the NHS during Covid-19

The BBC said they were happy to donate their ventilators to help the NHS during Covid-19

The NHS Nightingale hospital in the ExCel centre in London's docklands will have a capacity of 4,000 beds once it is fully completed

The NHS Nightingale hospital in the ExCel centre in London’s docklands will have a capacity of 4,000 beds once it is fully completed

It was not immediately clear how many ventilators had been donated, or why working medical equipment was used on set.

The BBC had several fully functional ventilators on the set of its popular drama Holby City

The BBC had several fully functional ventilators on the set of its popular drama Holby City

The first new NHS Nightingale hospital was created in just nine days to help cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

It has the potential to offer 4,000 beds at the ExCeL Centre site in the capital’s Docklands, in Newham, east London.

The BBC ventilators were donated there as the drama is made in the South East, even though it is set in a fictional West Country city.

There are also Nightingale hospitals in Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Harrogate, with two more announced on Friday on Wearside and in Exeter.

The BBC’s gesture is the latest in a national outpouring of gratitude to NHS staff risking their lives to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday, the nation once again united for a country-wide round of applause for workers on the front line.

It came as the UK recorded its highest daily death toll since the outbreak began.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the daily No 10 news conference that as of Thursday there had been 8,958 hospital deaths from the disease, an increase of 980 on the previous day.

Each bed at the Nightingale Hospital will have its own ventilator to provide assistance to Covid-19 patients who are struggling to breathe on their own

Each bed at the Nightingale Hospital will have its own ventilator to provide assistance to Covid-19 patients who are struggling to breathe on their own

A 460-bed Nightingale hospital for the North East of England is being built in an industrial unit bigger than a football pitch, it has been announced.

Work has been carried out to convert the site – which was built for the motor industry, close to the Nissan plant on Wearside – into a hospital which will take coronavirus patients if units in the region cannot cope with demand.

The site, owned by Sunderland City Council, is close to the A19 and will be divided into 16 wards.

It is being fitted out with help from the Army, Durham North West Conservative MP Richard Holden said.

He wrote on Facebook: ‘Washington’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing, just off the A1 is to become the North East England and Cumbria’s Nightingale Hospital.

‘It will be able to care for 460 patients, from across, and will have the capacity to support patients who require ventilation, should that be required.

‘Work is well underway on equipping the building and it should be able to receive patients within a couple of weeks.’

A similar development for the South West is being created at the Westpoint Arena in Exeter, according to reports.

The NHS has already set up temporary hospitals in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Harrogate.

In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon has unveiled a new 1,00-bed coronavirus facility in Glasgow as the site of a seventh NHS Nightingale field hospital.

The SNP leader said her Government expects that the NHS Louisa Jordan hospital, set up at the Scottish Events Campus, will not need to be used.

In an official statement, Ms Sturgeon said: ‘Everyone involved in establishing the NHS Louisa Jordan deserves our sincere thanks. They are working tirelessly under extremely challenging circumstances to build a unique national facility.’

She continued: ‘While I still hope that it will not be needed, the NHS Louisa Jordan will help our NHS to prepare and provide people with reassurance that we have measures in place to help treat people during this pandemic.

‘I urge everyone in Scotland to continue to follow the social distancing advice and to stay at home. By following the social distancing measures, they can help to slow the spread of COVID-19, save lives and protect our NHS.’

The First Minister added that the hospital will be available for use ‘from mid-April’.

The NHS Louisa Jordan is an NHS Scotland-run medical facility. It will have an initial 300 beds which could expand to hold more than 1,000 patients if required.

Jill Young, former Chief Executive of the Golden Jubilee Hospital at Clydebank, has been appointed Chief Executive of the temporary hospital.

The facility is named after Sister Louisa Jordan, a First World War nurse who died on active service in Serbia in 1915 while providing much-needed care to an area of dire need as part of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Services.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk