Prince Charles has opened the new 4,000-bed NHS Nightingale - less than two weeks after work started on the giant specialist coronavirus field hospital.

With 80 wards, the temporary facility at the ExCel Centre in London's Docklands is now the largest critical care unit in the world.

Soldiers, carpenters, stewards and volunteers have worked around the clock to ensure NHS Nightingale could be ready for use in record time.

The Prince of Wales, who earlier this week completed self-isolation following his COVID-19 diagnosis, officially opened the temporary facility via video link from his Scottish estate Birkhall.

Image: More than 16,000 members of staff could be needed to run London's new NHS Nightingale Hospital

The prince praised all those who have worked to create the new medical centre, and to people across the UK who continue to deliver frontline care to those affected by the crisis.


He said: "It is without doubt a spectacular and unbelievable feat of work in every sense.

"The creation of this hospital is, above all, the result of an extraordinary collaboration and partnership between NHS managers, the military, and all those involved, to create a centre on a scale that has never been seen before in the United Kingdom."

Sky News sees inside the new NHS Nightingale hospital

Attending the ceremony in person was Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who also recently came out of isolation after recovering from the virus, Professor Charles Knight, chief executive of NHS Nightingale, and representatives from the Ministry of Defence, contractors and volunteers.

The facility, which will start with 500 beds and has the capacity for 3,500 more, will be used to treat COVID-19 patients who have been transferred from other intensive care units (ICU) across London.

Image: Mr Hancock described the new hospital as an "extension" of St Bartholomew's Hospital

Speaking to Sky's Adam Boulton, Mr Hancock described it as an "extension" of St Bartholomew's Hospital.

Those who are admitted to the hospital will already be on a ventilator and will remain at the Nightingale until their course of ventilation is finished.

Coronavirus patients suffering from other serious conditions - such as cardiac issues - will be cared for at other specialist centres.

Image: It took less than two weeks to complete the facility in the ExCel Centre

But the hospital's design means it will be able to operate as a large intensive care unit or as a normal ward, depending on demand.

More than 16,000 members of staff could be needed to run it should the hospital reach full capacity.

Staff will also be offered accommodation in nearby hotels.

While all the equipment being used at the Nightingale is "new kit", according to leaked documents, some health officials have expressed reservations about how communications might work in the vast, open building, normally used as a venue for trade fairs and exhibitions.

Draft clinical models seen by the Health Service Journal show the building's poor acoustics has been a cause of concern.

Although the most acute cases will be sent elsewhere, the leaked documents also reportedly show that officials have modelled that between 16% and 20% of those admitted to the hospital could die.

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Two more Nightingale hospitals will also be opened in Bristol and Harrogate.

The Bristol hospital will be able to look after up to 1,000 patients, while Harrogate can care for up to 500.

They will join other sites due to open at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre and Manchester's Central Complex.