The Student Room Group

Why doesn't the UK build more hospitals

Ive seen that one of the main point said lockdown was due to the strain on the NHS. Would it not be more cost effective if they built more hospitals and either trained more doctors or imported. This would;ld mean there would be not such a huge strain on the NHS and people and business alike could continue thriving. There is no cure against it so it will continue to mutate, implementing the vaccine may just be a short run goal. If this virus is going to mutate and constantly effect people every year, it begs the question why the UK aren't looking at feasible long run options.

Thats my 2 cents, just want to see what others are saying :smile:

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Building more hospitals is all well and good but we don't have the staff to fill them, this is why the Nightingale units can't operate at any kind of capacity. There are currently 15 patients in the London unit.

We need 50,000 more nurses just to fill the gap but that would require making nursing a more desirable position but the Government refuses to do so because that would cost money that they would rather give to their mates.

For doctors there is a global shortage so we need to train more but that will take years to resolve because it takes so long to train a doctor.
Original post by DiddyDec
Building more hospitals is all well and good but we don't have the staff to fill them, this is why the Nightingale units can't operate at any kind of capacity. There are currently 15 patients in the London unit.

We need 50,000 more nurses just to fill the gap but that would require making nursing a more desirable position but the Government refuses to do so because that would cost money that they would rather give to their mates.

For doctors there is a global shortage so we need to train more but that will take years to resolve because it takes so long to train a doctor.

Yeah but the economy is LOSING TRILLIONS , I'm pretty sure they could afford to make it an incentive to work with the NHS for foreign doctors to come and do there job. Even if its just to fill out the nightingale hospital.Would be much more better than wasting £500m on the eat out to help out scheme.

I just think the people in charge are not thinking in the long term, the economy is gonna be ruined, poverty and inequality is going to run rampant. I for one think lockdown should be scrapped, catching the virus is inevitable, no amount of shielding is going to deter it. Whether you're going food shopping or exercising, it is inevitable, you will catch it one time.
Original post by the redmandeer
Yeah but the economy is LOSING TRILLIONS , I'm pretty sure they could afford to make it an incentive to work with the NHS for foreign doctors to come and do there job. Even if its just to fill out the nightingale hospital.Would be much more better than wasting £500m on the eat out to help out scheme.

I just think the people in charge are not thinking in the long term, the economy is gonna be ruined, poverty and inequality is going to run rampant. I for one think lockdown should be scrapped, catching the virus is inevitable, no amount of shielding is going to deter it. Whether you're going food shopping or exercising, it is inevitable, you will catch it one time.

Welcome to Tory Britain, over 10 years in power and our lives are worse. Who could have predicted that?
This issue isn't bricks and mortar. We have hundreds of fully equipped hospital beds in our Nightingale Hospitals ready to go. The issue is with a lack of skilled and qualified staff to man those beds.
Reply 5
Upscaling a huge organisation is a difficult process. To build a pipeline of new doctors and nurses, you need to be training them - or, if you choose to rely on immigration, be offering a far better deal than other countries. You'd not be building new hospitals, you'd be building new medical schools, trying to entice people into the professions. It's not particularly easy - and a lot of that is more than just throwing money at the problem.

In any case, where's the line drawn? We currently spend more on the NHS, even adjusting for inflation, than ever before in history. Where is the level at which we say 'oh, that's it - it's fine'. Because I don't think there is one.
Reply 6
Original post by the redmandeer
Yeah but the economy is LOSING TRILLIONS


Just print more money then.
Original post by Quady
Just print more money then.

well actually thats inflation tax, its risky but it does raise revenue for the government so that it can mask the task.
Original post by the redmandeer
Yeah but the economy is LOSING TRILLIONS , I'm pretty sure they could afford to make it an incentive to work with the NHS for foreign doctors to come and do there job. Even if its just to fill out the nightingale hospital.Would be much more better than wasting £500m on the eat out to help out scheme.

I just think the people in charge are not thinking in the long term, the economy is gonna be ruined, poverty and inequality is going to run rampant. I for one think lockdown should be scrapped, catching the virus is inevitable, no amount of shielding is going to deter it. Whether you're going food shopping or exercising, it is inevitable, you will catch it one time.

British people don't tend to focus on financial incentives as their main life goal, otherwise everyone would have immigrated to the US by now. The problem is that these jobs are highly stressful with poor work-life balance (who is going to do the night shift?).
Original post by WithYouAliens
British people don't tend to focus on financial incentives as their main life goal, otherwise everyone would have immigrated to the US by now. The problem is that these jobs are highly stressful with poor work-life balance (who is going to do the night shift?).

with the right amount of money anything is possible
Original post by the redmandeer
with the right amount of money anything is possible

This isn't the United States.
Original post by WithYouAliens
This isn't the United States.

wdym ??? if the UK offered a Bulgarian doctor money, he coming, the cost of this would be significantly lower than lockdowns. The economy is in tatters.
Original post by the redmandeer
wdym ??? if the UK offered a Bulgarian doctor money, he coming, the cost of this would be significantly lower than lockdowns. The economy is in tatters.

Your solution is immigration and the world needs healthcare workers, not just the UK.
Reply 13
Original post by the redmandeer
well actually thats inflation tax, its risky but it does raise revenue for the government so that it can mask the task.

One can print money and have deflation, Japan proved that.
mate, mate, mate, they could, they clearly have the capital; to do so
Original post by the redmandeer
mate, mate, mate, they could, they clearly have the capital; to do so

How long does it take to build a hospital?
Original post by DiddyDec
How long does it take to build a hospital?

if china could do one in a week, the uk could do one in a year

furthermore even building it may not be as important, there are many places in the uk where buildings have been abandoned, these could easily be rebuilt as hospitals.

I think a lot of you guys underestimate the UK, the UK has the money to do almost anything.
Original post by the redmandeer
if china could do one in a week, the uk could do one in a year

furthermore even building it may not be as important, there are many places in the uk where buildings have been abandoned, these could easily be rebuilt as hospitals.

I think a lot of you guys underestimate the UK, the UK has the money to do almost anything.

Any new healthcare infrastructure would need to comply with the HBN regulations which I am certain you have never even heard of. Simply converting abandoned buildings would not be up to code and could be potentially very dangerous for the patients.

It would take months just to design the building let alone actually build it.

Take it from someone that actually designs healthcare infrastructure, you couldn't be more wrong :h:
I really do wonder what planet some people live on.

If by magic we could find the fully trained and qualified staff to service new hospitals, it begs the question what happens after everything is brought under control and the hospitals operate at a fraction of capacity but with a full staff?

The answer is horrible productivity, rampant inefficiency, overpaid medics and complacency. Welcome to nationalised industry.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by DiddyDec
Any new healthcare infrastructure would need to comply with the HBN regulations which I am certain you have never even heard of. Simply converting abandoned buildings would not be up to code and could be potentially very dangerous for the patients.

It would take months just to design the building let alone actually build it.

Take it from someone that actually designs healthcare infrastructure, you couldn't be more wrong :h:

yes you are correct however I have another point for you, excel London, nightingale hospitals all built for this purpose. We have had a year to prepare for this. We could have built a huge incentive for foreign doctors to come and work in the UK.

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