Almost the entire private hospital sector will be signed over to the NHS as it struggles to contain coronavirus. Thousands of beds and nurses will be available from next week after a deal was struck between NHS England and independent hospitals.
Nearly 20,000 staff will also help the NHS deliver other urgent operations and cancer treatments. The deal includes 8,000 hospital beds across England, nearly 1,200 more ventilators, more than 10,000 nurses, over 700 doctors and 8,000 other clinical staff.
In London the deal includes more than 2,000 hospital beds and in excess of 250 operating theatres and critical beds. The services will be delivered at cost – with no profit being made.