EMERGENCY accommodation for staff at the Royal Berkshire Hospital is being built on the grounds of Reading School.

The pop-up accommodation was built for hospital staff to stay in during the coronavirus pandemic. 40 en-suite rooms should be ready by the middle of this week.

Steve McManus, chief executive of the Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, tweeted on March 30 about the accommodation.

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He said: “I went over to our new Royal Berkshire Hospital staff village this morning. The team has done an amazing job with all 40 accommodation units now in place.

“Staff pop-up supermarket to follow. Huge thanks to the team at Reading School for their ongoing support, and use of their grounds.” 

 

 

The units, which look like shipping containers, are built by Caboose & Co, a company that also provides accommodation at music festivals and glamping. Each unit has a washroom, power sockets and lights, and sleeps up to four people, according to the company’s website.

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Victoria Parker, communications director at the hospital, also tweeted about the plans. She said: “We’re building our very own ‘OIympic village’ emergency accommodation for staff at RBH. We should have 40 en-suite rooms ready by midweek.”

A hospital spokesman said: "As part of a comprehensive package of care we’re providing for our staff, the 40 en-suite rooms will be available to any RBH employee in need of a convenient place to rest and recharge after their shifts and who would otherwise face a long, tiring journey home when they’ve finished work.

“We’re very grateful to our neighbours at Reading Boy’s School for allowing us to erect these facilities on their site. They complement other accommodation being made available to our staff by local hotels and they’re all examples of the amazing support we’ve had from organisations across the community.”