Military Help Develop NHS Field Hospital At Cardiff's Principality Stadium

The British military have been helping create a new NHS field hospital in Cardiff, as part of the response to the coronavirus crisis.

It is being developed on the site of the Principality Stadium, where personnel are helping move in and build 300 hospital beds.

There is the capacity to increase the number of beds up to 2,000, if needed.

Platoon commander, Captain Tom Newman is leading a team of riflemen who are supporting the installation of the hospital beds.

"We are flexible in mindset and we are ready with any task that us given to us," he said.

"They are enormously proud to help out, alongside the NHS and other commercial partners as well."

The hospital will be supported by a multidisciplinary team of staff, including doctors, nurses, healthcare support workers and therapists.

"Our model of care here is rather different to what you've seen at the Nightingale hospitals," Wing Commander David O'Reilly, the Clinical Project Lead for Dragon's Heart Hospital, said.

"The intention is for us to offload our existing hospital sites so that we can expand critical care capacity there and bringing patients who don't require ventilation to this site, actively treat them, rehabilitate them and get them home."

Volunteers will also be on hand to provide non-clinical help for patients at the site.