Covid-19: Belfast Nightingale Hospital is stood down

The de-escalation of the Nightingale facility in Belfast has been completed.

At the peak of the most recent Covid-19 surge, it was expanded to care for up to 32 patients seriously ill with Covid-19.

The Belfast Health Trust has described the de-escalation of the facility as "significant".

From now on Covid-19 patients will be cared for at the Mater Hospital on the Crumlin Road, as Belfast City Hospital returns to focus on surgery.

The trust said the City Hospital "will continue to provide care and treatment to patients across a range of specialities including Haematology and Renal services".

It will become a "green surgical pathway" - where Covid-19 positive patients are not cared for, so that services can be maintained on a Covid-free site.

The trust said it is being scaled up to undertake complex, high-priority surgery for patients from across Northern Ireland, but it will retain flexibility should there be another surge.

Further details on a surgical recovery plan are expected in the coming days.

The Nightingale, at Belfast City Hospital's tower block, reopened in October due to Covid-19 pressures.

The hospital's tower block was originally turned into a 230-bed unit for critically-ill patients in April 2020, but then stood down the following month.