THE Royal Navy is preparing to convert its bases into emergency field hospitals for coronavirus patients.
It has cleared hundreds of residential staff from HMS Excellent, its training base in Portsmouth harbour, to provide temporary housing for personnel from other sites.
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This will allow military planners to clear any UK barracks and hand it over to the NHS at the drop of a hat.
Navy sources said the Government and health service had not yet requested any sites but they were planning “four or five steps ahead”.
A senior Royal Navy source said residential staff have been asked to work from home, adding: “Their cabins are being cleared and will be handed over to people from other military establishments, if and when the need arises.”
“This gives us the flexibility to convert any of our bases around the country into field hospitals with a very short lead time.”
He added: “So far we have yet to receive any specific requests but we always like to plan four or five steps ahead.”
London’s ExCel Centre will become the UK’s first coronavirus field hospital, with the first 500 of 4,000 beds available as early as next week.
NHS boss Simon Stevens green-lit further “Nightingale hospitals” at the Birmingham NEC and Manchester Arena, with more to follow.
Meanwhile, two vacant aircraft hangars in Newquay, Cornwall, are being converted into makeshift morgues, with space for 2,000 bodies each.
