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The proprietor of London’s ExCel centre has carried out a U-turn on charging the NHS to make use of the site as a hospital to regard coronavirus sufferers.
ExCel leader govt Jeremy Rees stated an preliminary settlement with the NHS to deal with the transient Nightingale Hospital “included a contribution to some fixed costs”.
But he stated: “We have since decided to cover the fixed costs ourselves.”
Mr Rees added that the ExCel had all the time been equipped to the NHS rent-free.
The Sunday Times reported that the centre, which is owned by way of Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC), was once charging the NHS between £2m and £3m in hire to make use of the east London site.
Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, managing director and crew leader govt of ADNEC, stated: “To be clear, profit has always been the furthest thing from our minds.”
He added: “It is our firm commitment that we will not charge a penny for the use of our facilities, and we will provide the NHS with the operational and logistical support it needs for NHS Nightingale London.”
The box hospital can hang as many as 4,000 sufferers and is the primary of quite a few equivalent amenities deliberate for the United Kingdom.
The Nightingale Hospital was once inbuilt 9 days and is now open. It has 500 beds in position, with house for an extra 3,500.
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