The NHS Nightingale Hospital Exeter project team have won the ‘Colloboration of the Year’ award for their work building the city’s Nightingale Hospital.

The award was given by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) South West in recognition of the team’s achievement in renovating a disused retail unit into a state-of-the-art Nightingale Hospital which has helped to relieve the pressure on the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Two-and-a-half thousand people helped to complete the project which was finished in just 57 days.

Suzanne Tracey, chief executive of the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and Northern Devon Healthcare Trust, said: ‘Workers and volunteers from across hundreds of trades created an exceptional facility that was much needed to manage Covid-19 demand, and we are delighted that this work has been recognised and celebrated.

‘On behalf of the NHS in Devon, I would like to thank all those who helped to plan and build the NHS Nightingale Hospital Exeter.’

During the pandemic, the hospital accommodated nearly 250 covid patients from across three counties and also carried 6,000 diagnostic scans, supported two Covid-19 vaccine studies and hosted overseas nursing training. The hospital is now being improved in order to help NHS services across the South West clear through the long waiting lists for treatment that have been caused by the pandemic.