Why, if the NHS is under so much pressure, are others not open?
The simple answer, says British Medical Association leader Dr Chaand Nagpaul, is staffing.
"We have 80,000 vacancies. You just can't have a doctor or nurse in two sites at once."
It is a sentiment that is echoed on the ground.
Rupert Pearse, an intensive care doctor in east London, said the situation in the capital as well as in north Kent and south Wales "remains very difficult".
But he says the Nightingales will not help because of the lack of trained staff.
"We are already 'diluting' our skilled ICU nursing staff with less-well-trained volunteers."
A few are taking in patients that are at the end of their recovery period which probably means that they don't require ventilating.
