NHS England has struck a deal with private hospitals which will see thousands of beds and nurses made available for the fight against coronavirus.
The agreement will see extra ventilators and thousands of extra beds and healthcare staff provided as early as next week.
NHS officials said on Saturday that nearly 20,000 fully qualified staff will be joining the health service's response to the pandemic, reports Reuters.
These additional resources will help the health service manage an expected surge in cases and deliver key operations and cancer treatment.
The deal includes the provision of 8,000 hospital beds across England, nearly 1,200 more ventilators, more than 10,000 nurses, over 700 doctors and over 8,000 other clinical staff.
It comes as the coronavirus death toll in the UK reached 233 after NHS England said a further 53 people had died in England after testing positive.
"Under the agreement, the independent sector will reallocate practically its entire national hospital capacity en bloc to the NHS," said health minister Matt Hancock.
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