Inside NHS Nightingale Birmingham at the NEC

The NHS Nightingale Birmingham is set to open on Friday to help hospitals across the Midlands cope with the surge of patients infected by coronavirus.

It will have 800 fully-equipped beds in the first phase but could provide up to 4,000.

The hospital will be ready to support patients who are convalescing from having COVID- 19, those who are still ill but need treatment and patients who need palliative care.

Bringing patients here means those most seriously ill can be treated in regular hospitals for intensive care and ventilation.

This is the second temporary 'Nightingale Hospital' to be built in the country, as the NHS Nightingale Hospital at the London Excel Centre was the first to open last week (April 3).

Led by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the new hospital will have a workforce of doctors, nurses, therapists and support staff from across the Midlands.

  • Footage showing the latest developments have been released by the NHS

Staff are being redeployed to work at the Birmingham hospital, which The NEC has let the NHS have rent-free.

Work is due to be complete on the second of the Nightingale hospitals. Credit: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
The NHS Nightingale Birmingham is set to open this week. Credit: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
The new hospital will have a workforce of doctors and nurses. Credit: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
This is the second temporary 'Nightingale Hospital' to be built in the country. Credit: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Here are some pictures that have been released of the site. Credit: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

A total of 938 people have died from coronavirus in the UK in the past 24 hours, the Department of Health has said.

The newly-released figures bring the total number of deaths to 7,097.

Across the UK, 5,492 new cases have been recorded, bringing the total number of UK cases to 60,733.

In England, a further 828 people, who tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 6,483.

The Midlands was the second region worst affected, with 171 deaths respectively.