Doctors demand end to ‘disturbing’ NHS corridor care after brutal winter

Hospitals must adopt a zero tolerance approach to “unsafe and unacceptable” corridor care, medical leaders have demanded.

The Royal College of Physicians is urging the NHS to ensure patients are no longer treated in temporary care environments such as corridors and waiting room chairs.

Its new position statement calls on the health service and UK governments to formally measure and report on the number of patients treated in temporary spaces all year round, and take action to abolish such instances.

Dr John Dean, RCP clinical vice president, said: “Every patient deserves high quality care in a safe place, yet far too many people are being treated in a way that compromises their safety, dignity, and recovery.”

Overcrowding has become a major concern this winter as hospitals came under intense pressure while dealing with the fallout of flu and cold weather.

Hospitals must adopt a zero tolerance approach to “unsafe and unacceptable” corridor care, medical leaders have demanded.

The Royal College of Physicians is urging the NHS to ensure patients are no longer treated in temporary care environments such as corridors and waiting room chairs.

Its new position statement calls on the health service and UK governments to formally measure and report on the number of patients treated in temporary spaces all year round, and take action to abolish such instances.

Dr John Dean, RCP clinical vice president, said: “Every patient deserves high quality care in a safe place, yet far too many people are being treated in a way that compromises their safety, dignity, and recovery.”

Overcrowding has become a major concern this winter as hospitals came under intense pressure while dealing with the fallout of flu and cold weather.

In December, more than 54,000 people waited over 12 hours in A&E from a decision to admit to actually being given a bed – and many are likely to have received care in inappropriate spaces, the RCP said.

Dr Hilary Williams, RCP vice president for Wales, said: “It’s disheartening, distressing and disturbing to be treating patients who are lying on trolleys or sitting in chairs, especially when they are older, frail and vulnerable.

“We simply cannot accept this way of working. It must never be normalised.”

NHS England recently announced it would record data on the use of temporary escalation spaces this January and publish it.

The increasing overcrowding of A&E departments – and resulting delays for ambulances waiting to handover patients – was highlighted by a coroner this week following the death of 16-year-old boy.

In a prevention of future deaths report, David Regan, assistant coroner for South Wales Central, said Jackson Yeow waited nine-and-a-half hours for an ambulance despite the 999 call being categorised as an “amber 1” life-threatening call requiring an urgent response.

The teenager, who had autism and lived with obesity, also faced a “prolonged extrication from his house with fire service and EMERTS assistance” before being taken to University Hospital of Wales.

His condition deteriorated and he died on April 9, 2022. A narrative conclusion recorded that he “died of diabetic ketoacidosis following a wait for an ambulance of approximately nine-and-a-half hours”.

Mr Regan raised concerns that “care for patients in the emergency department is frequently provided in the corridor and other non-clinical spaces.”

And he warned that it “impedes the ability of staff to recognise a patient’s deteriorating condition.”

The coroner declared: “Care in corridors and other non-clinical spaces has been normalised, which in the opinion of the consultant who gave evidence is unsafe.

“When conducted routinely, care in corridors and other non-clinical spaces reduces the capacity of the emergency department so that should acuity escalate, it is likely to cause delays to the release of ambulances.

“The underlying obstacle to improving flow through the hospital and relieving pressure on the emergency department is the significant number of patients who are medically fit to be discharged but whose discharge is delayed due to non-medical reasons.”