London buses converted into temporary ambulances to ease Covid pressure
Two London buses have been converted into temporary ambulances to alleviate the pressure of Covid-19 on the NHS across the capital.
Starting the service in the next few days, NHS staff have been prepped and vaccinated to transport up to four patients in the makeshift ambulances which have been stripped of seats and adapted with medical equipment.
Although not exclusively for Covid patients, the buses will have oxygen onboard to provide Covid patients who need it.
The buses have also been fitted with infusion pumps and monitors to ensure patients are stable while being transferred to other hospitals, including the reopened Nightingale field hospital.
Onboard NHS staff will be those from the Covid specific Sprint unit, also known as the Specialist Retrieval and Intensive Care Transfer Service, which was established in March of last year.
The temporary ambulances will also be staffed by St John Ambulance volunteers.
Bus company Go-Ahead loaned the electric vehicles to the NHS and provided four vaccinated drivers for the transfers.
Initially, patients are most likely to be transferred to the Nightingale facility, but the buses also have dedicated stops at King’s College and Guy’s hospitals in south London.