A campaign to save an East London hospital from closure so it can treat homeless Covid-19 patients has been given the green light after NHS England promised to fund it as needed.
Last week we reported on the efforts of activists from the Museum of Homelessness and Streets Kitchen when they teamed up with Islington Council – in a bid to lobby the government for funding that could offer rough sleepers with coronavirus a place at Mildmay Hospital to receive treatment.
Now bosses at the specialist HIV hospital, which has been threatened with closure, have heard from NHS England that they will receive the necessary funding to help take the pressure off other hospitals.
Thank you @HackneyEars for highlighting Mildmay Hospital's response to the #COVID19 epidemic.
We expect to have all beds full by the end of the week, easing the burden on acute care beds in London Hospitals. #SaveMildmayhttps://t.co/eryrUzE7pb https://t.co/aDuS5CdtTC
— Mildmay UK 💙 (@MildmayUK) March 31, 2020
Mildmay can accommodate rough sleepers in up to 12 rooms – and beds are needed so desperately that the hospital is taking in patients ahead of the funding reaching them.
Hospital chief executive Geoff Coleman told The Big Issue that the facility is already close to full capacity, weeks before the predicted peak of the pandemic in the UK.