The first NHS Nightingale hospital opened its doors to treat Covid-19 patients last month.

It follows in the legacy of its namesake, famed for selflessly helping wounded and sick soldiers during the Crimean War. But it was here in Kent that Florence Nightingale set up one of her first training grounds for nursing the sick back to health.

Chatham's Fort Pitt was originally constructed between 1805 and 1819 to fend off enemy attacks.

After the threat of foreign invasion from France passed with the exile of Napoleon it took on a new role as an "invalid hospital" in 1832.

It was so-called because it was close to the docks and the River Medway, meaning injured troops could be easily transported there for treatment.

Built in the shape of an H it contained nine large wards capable of accommodating 200 patients at a time – a lot less than the 4,000 beds at the current field hospital outside the London Excel.

It also became the go-to for medical officers to receive their briefing ahead of serving a probationary period.

The site, alongside other naval ports in Deal, Plymouth and Portsmouth, was a forerunner to the Royal Army Medical Corps and received numerous visits from the Queen.

In fact, such was its importance it was regarded as a "museum of anatomy and other curiosities" and various artefacts are said to have been transferred to the Natural History Museum in London.

A penchant for learning was to become central to its operation when in 1860 Florence Nightingale earmarked the fort to become the first army medical school.

Appalled by the conditions faced by injured British soldiers in the Crimea, the nurse who had previously worked with volunteers in Turkey, pleaded with the government to take action.

It was later opened on the recommendation of the Royal Commission into the sanitary state of the army.

The Victorian social reformer penned various works which contributed to modern nursing practices still in place today.

This month marks the 200th anniversary of the nursing pioneer's birth, May 12 1820 In her career she experienced similar challenges to those we are facing during the current crisis.

In The Collected Works of Florence Nightingale series the author refers to the "Chatham experience" which showed two distinct types of cases.

This included separating the sick from the healthy, or those recovering from an illness, and placing them in separate wards.

It read: "The Chatham experience has fully shown that there are two distinct classes of cases, requiring two distinct kinds of discipline and management.

"The sick with their orderlies, medical officers and nurses would, I think, be most economically and humanely administered in a part of the building specially provided for them.

"And the convalescents, not requiring constant medical attendance, might be put under a different scheme in another part of the building."

Principles such as these would go on to shape many of Miss Nightingale's ideas for the construction of both field and general hospitals.

In fact, the lady with the lamp as she was often depicted was frequently consulted on the design and features of such buildings.

Specifications included installing glazed panels in ward doors to ensure nurses could see and check on patients and making sure rooms were well ventilated.

She would later push for improvements in care – both for patients and staff – and helped professionalise the nursing sector, paving the way for more employment opportunities for women.

The first army medical school at Fort Pitt lasted three years before more suitable premises were found at Netley in Southampton.

However, it continued to serve as a military hospital and in 1910 the original tower was demolished and a new west wing was built.

The site was closed shortly after the first world war and laid dormant until it was purchased by the Chatham Education Board for £6,000 in September 1929.

Education chiefs sought to convert the premises into a girls' technical school which had been previously located at Elm House.

This was considered quite remarkable given many key features of the fort – including a dry moat and casemated barracks – remained at the time.

It was opened shortly after but soon called upon its previous fortress status once more with modifications underground in 1932 to provide an air raid shelter.

Parts of the old hospital buildings were destroyed by fire in 1973, with the blaze engulfing classrooms, staffrooms and the head mistress' office.

The school was later renamed Fort Pitt Grammar School in 1984 and remains on the site with some of the original structures still intact today.

It continues to hold national and historical significance with many of the old hospital ward numbers still visible throughout its walls.

The Crimea Wing teaching block is a listed building ensuring Florence Nightingale's legacy continues to influence and inspire new generations of doctors and nurses right here in Kent.

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