My visit to the Nightingale Hospital in Bristol

Located in the Exhibition and Conference Centre on UWE Bristol’s Frenchay campus, the facility offers a 300-bed temporary hospital set to provide hundreds of extra beds where local services need them during the COVID season. 

As you walk in, you are welcomed by an open reception where social isolation among other infection control measures is strictly observed. One could not ignore the presence of the army walking up and down. You don’t normally see this in hospitals, and this was therefore something to behold. I met the Hayley Peters, Director of Nursing. Hayley and the management team had invited stakeholders to witness the hard work that had gone into making Nightingale the place it now is. 

The medical director from North Bristol NHS Trust joined me and we got into a conversation about COVID-19 and the progress of preparations at the Nightingale Hospital. Hayley explained in detail about these preparations to ensure the hospital was ready when needed and the pivotal role the army were playing in the set-up phase. The joint effort between the army, NHS England / Improvement and the local CCGs had worked well to create the hospital and ensure 300 beds were available and well equipped to manage acutely ill patients. Hayley then took us round the hospital. At the entrance were security guards there to ensure visitors sanitise their hands before entering. 

We entered in a huge space with long corridors and hundreds of beds. At each bedside was a computer screen for recording all information relevant to the patient; it was clear that paper records will have no place in the new hospital.  Given the size of the facility, different sections had been colour-coded for ease in identification. 

There were several groups of approximately seven to eight staff, being trained by clinicians at the bedside. These would rotate with prompting from an army officer, literally with military precision. Hayley explained these were non-registrant staff who would be crucial to supporting the registered staff in the facility. Donning and doffing rooms were clearly labelled as well as a storage space for medical equipment. There was a rest room for staff who, we were told, will be expected to take refreshments breaks every three hours. Next we were shown the mortuary which for me brought back memories of my first year as a student nurse and I stopped for a moment’s reflection. 

Next was a green section which was a designated rest area, peaceful and quiet and for those patients who had either improved and were about to go home or were end of life. We found ourselves back to where we had started and a large screen facing us at the nurses’ station; this is where all patients would be recorded, and the technology would allow nurses and medics to pick up on deteriorating patients. 

We walked out of the hospital and I only had one thing on my mind – the hope that we won’t have to use the facility.