Nightingale Hospital will provide Harrogate businesses with opportunity to support NHS in fight against Covid-19

Army, Police and NHS officials moved into the town this week to start the process of turning the Harrogate Convention Centre into a 500-bed emergency hospital. It is understood the first patients could even start arriving by next week.

New details emerge as NHS formally announces plans to turn Harrogate Convention Centre into Nightingale hospital in fight against coronavirus

The people of Harrogate are already gearing themselves up to 'do their bit' in the fight against coronavirus with offers of help flooding into the hospital from businesses and individuals keen to get involved and offer their services.

One of the town's leading hotel managers, Simon Cotton, believes the arrival of so many new doctors, nurses, porters and admin staff will give many of our hotels and guest houses the opportunity to re-open and provide a service which will play a crucial role in supporting the NHS workers.

As Managing Director of HRH Group, Mr Cotton runs The White Hart, The Fat Badger, The Yorkshire Hotel and Scran Restaurant and has this week opened his doors to the workforce responsible for transforming the Harrogate Convention Centre into the Nightingale Hospital.

New Nightingale hospital could be 'fantastic opportunity' for Harrogate guest houses to open doors to key workers

He was among the first to set up a deal with the NHS which allows Key Workers to stay at The White Hart for a minimal rate... allowing the hotel to cover its costs and enabling the hospital workforce to get the job done.

Others are set to follow with similar offers, Ali Standen, deputy chair of Accommodation Harrogate, the association for independent guest houses in Harrogate, and who runs Acorn Lodge guest house with her husband Phil, has already said how the town’s hoteliers and B&Bs are poised and ready to step up and help whenever necessary.

The White Hart is currently operating with a staff of just six or seven people compared to the 80 or 90 that it would usually need, but while the numbers may be lacking, Mr Cotton is determined to give our NHS heroes the best service possible.

"We are accommodating the army and the construction crews who are working day and night to get this hospital into a position where it is operational," he said. "They are working two shifts - a day team and a night team - and we are looking after their needs while also making sure that we observe the social distancing regulations.

"The Hotel has been given Key Worker status. We are actually closed as a business and to the public, but if people are key workers then we are open with a limited but still dedicated level of services. The bar and the restaurant are shut but we can still provide a full Yorkshire cooked breakfast and room service. Of course, we have also opened up our takeaway service which means we can deliver to our rooms also.

This is Harrogate Convention Centre's message to NHS Nightingale heroes as emergency hospital starts to take shape

"The hotel is basically running with about six or seven staff when we would usually see about 80-90 working in a normal day. I can’t thank these people enough for the work they are doing."

He believes the hospital's arrival will provide the business community with a timely boost, particularly as most people simply want to do their bit to help.

"Obviously, it gives them an opportunity to re-open," He said. "It won’t be business as usual, but it would give them a chance to open their doors once more. It puts people back in work and helps them to fight a good fight.

"It is also giving us all an opportunity to do our bit and back the fight against the virus. We can all do our little bit to support those who are going to be on the frontline caring for people in this hospital.

"As I understand it, this hospital will serve the Yorkshire and Humber region and should it need to become operational then it will draw upon staff from across that region who will all travel to Harrogate and need somewhere to stay. Should it reach capacity then it is going to need a large team of not just doctors and nurses but also porters, cleaners and admin staff... and they will all need somewhere to stay and places to eat."

Coronavirus in Yorkshire: Confirmed number of cases rises to 2,210

Mr Cotton had a special word of thanks to his staff who have not only provided excellent service to the workers at the HCC, but who have also helped to set up a new takeaway service which continues to go from strength-to-strength at The Fat Badger, despite only being born out of the lockdown just a few weeks ago.

"When the country went into lockdown we asked if any of the staff had any elderly or vulnerable members in their family, those who did, we told them they needed to be at home and not risk infection. They have been furloughed," he said. "It was then down to a question of who was happy to come in and work for us during this time, and the majority of those who are working are those who are single and who live on their own and they have little chance of passing on any infection if they did show symptoms. They are all working incredibly long hours and and I am proud of the job they are doing in keep the people who are building this hospital fed and looked after.

"The takeaways have gone mad, we have had a really good response from the Harrogate public. There were a few logistical issues on the opening few nights but you would expect that because it was all very new to us. But we have been improving all the time and things are really going well.

Harrogate NHS Trust's plea for former recruits to sign up in battle against coronavirus

"We are now offering up Sunday lunches, whiich proved very popular last week and will be on offer again this weekend for people to either order for delivery or come and collect. We are also expecting Easter Sunday to be really popular with Sunday lunch orders."

If you wish to order a takeaway service from The Fat Badger then please call them on 01423-505681. A full menu is available at www.thefatbadger.com

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you.