Confirmation that 'new hospital facility' at Glasgow's SECC is being explored

But top medic said ‘field hospital’ was not an appropriate term for the facility.

Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, was today again questioned about the creation of "field hospitals" in places like the SECC during the coronavirus pandemic.

She stressed that what NHS Scotland was investigating were temporary hospitals, rather than "field hospitals", which she explained was an Army term for a mobile hospital unit.

The Army in Glasgow at the SECC on Saturday. Picture: John Devlin

She said: "The SECC is not a field hospital, it's not a mobile unit as the Army runs in places like Afghanistan.

“This would be a new hospital facility within that building. Engineers from the Armed Services with clinical specialists from the NHS have been scoping that out.

"It's still in the very early stages of planning and several options are being considered."

Nicola Sturgeon also revealed that a national co-ordination effort for volunteers to help the NHS would be launched this week.

Yesterday, soldiers were seen entering the SECC as plans for field hospitals across the country stepped up a gear.