Newcastle Hospital To Treat Ebola In The UK

8 October 2014, 17:00 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Newcastle NHS Foundation Trust is one of four in the country on "red alert" to treat patients with Ebola.

Newcastle's RVI hospital is on standby to treat people with the disease, which has already killed 4,000 people.

It's been placed second in line to London's Royal Free Hospital, with patients also being transferred to Liverpool and Sheffield.

Newcastle NHS Foundation Trust has 30 years experience of providing 24 hour service to tackle serious illnesses like Ebola.

Sir Leonard Fenwick is chief exec of Newcastle Hospitals, and has been speaking to Capital's reporter Martin Lindsay:



Meanwhile, hundreds of British troops are being sent to Sierra Leone to help tackle the spread of ebola.

The MoD says a Royal Navy ship and three military helicopters will also be on hand.

In Spain health officials are looking at whether a nurse caught the virus by touching her face with protective gloves after treating an infected patient.

The World Health Organisation say the epidemic is far from under control but reassure us the risk of it spreading in Europe remains "extremely low".