The Mirror reports that portable cabins in the car park could be used to temporarily house NHS hospital patients as wards battle “severe” overcrowding.
According to the Liverpool Echo, management at Whiston Hospital, Merseyside have applied for permission to install a two-storey temporary building in the hospital’s car park.
Plans show it could provide 60 extra beds and relieve pressure on wards currently operating above capacity and offering “inappropriate” levels of care
In its planning application, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “The trust’s A&E department is the busiest on Merseyside and activity is growing faster than other neighbouring Trusts.
“In addition, bed occupancy within the trust is virtually 100%. The pressure to accommodate non-elective admissions is relentless and leads to poorly patients being inappropriately cared for on trolleys in hospital corridors, and ties-up ambulance crews that are unable to offload their patients.”
Full story in The Mirror, 13 January 2020