'Corridor care at RAH only going to get worse unless action is taken'

At least two people are “expected” to be treated by medics in the corridors of the emergency department at the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) every day, NHS chiefs have admitted.

- EDEL KENEALY

But often that figure can rise to as many as six, documents have revealed.

The numbers were obtained by West Scotland Labour MSP Paul O'Kane amid growing fears corridor care is being “normalised” in the Paisley hospital.

A series of heavily redacted emails released as part of a Freedom of Information request (FOI) - reveal staff concerns over the situation and that an approach to tackle the problem was “perceived as the normalisation” of vulnerable people being treated on trollies.

One email titled emergency care in the Clyde region states: “For RAH, outwith winter, we will hopefully be less than six, but on most days we will have two patients in the corridor.

“It should at least be part of escalation and surge planning.”

A second details how concerns about “safe staffing levels” would be made clear in a report to senior management while revealing suggested actions are “not accepted by medical or nursing staff”.