From cookhouse to casualties: Army medics transform old kitchen into hospital

British Army medics are honing their ability to transform abandoned buildings into fully functional hospitals as they adapt to the demands of modern warfare.

Gone are the days of the large, tented field hospitals that once defined military medicine.

Personnel from the 21 Multi-Role Medical Regiment have been training to convert disused structures, like an old cookhouse in York, into hospitals capable of treating the wounded on the frontline.

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Lessons learned from Ukraine and the Middle East have driven the UK's military to rethink how medical care is provided near combat zones.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Woods, Commanding Officer of 21 Multi-Role Medical Regiment, explained the necessity of adapting to whatever space is available.

"So, it could be a warehouse, it could be an old school, it could be any sort of abandoned shopping centre.

"It could be anything and because it could be anything – we have to adapt," he said.

The disused cookhouse in York is a prime example of a 'building of opportunity,' a term the regiment uses to describe such spaces.

Within the dilapidated building, one of the Army's largest deployable hospitals has been set up, which can go anywhere in the world and operate within 30 days.

Whereas the old tented facilities were designed for purpose, inside these disused buildings nothing is.

"How we would ideally have it is not necessarily the way we can have it," Corporal Tammy Short, an Operating Department Practitioner, said. "So, we've had to adapt the way we lay our kit out."

The facility has been divided into wards, surgery areas, and even intensive care units.

Every bit of the old building has been used – even an old fridge has been repurposed for storing crutches.

Energy demands are another challenge. The hospital requires significant power – around 350kW – but the cookhouse can only supply a fraction of that.

Feeding staff, sterilising equipment, and managing laundry all need careful planning in a space not designed for such operations.

In past conflicts, expanding a hospital meant adding another tent but now medics must work with the limited space inside the buildings they convert.

Overcrowding increases the risk of infection, forcing the medical team to innovate in managing capacity.

Lt Col Woods said medical personnel seldom get to choose where they set up their hospital.

With deployable hospitals like this, British military medics remain ready to provide critical care, no matter the location.