'Again this winter, nursing staff have been set up to fail and patients set up to suffer'

LEADING NURSES WARN OF ‘CORRIDOR CARE CRISIS’ BEING REPEATED IN HOSPITALS THIS YEAR

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HERE has been ‘insufficient urgency’ to tackle corridor care in hospitals in England, leading nurses have said as they warned that the ‘crisis’ could be repeated again this winter.

Earlier this year, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) set out how patients are being treated in ‘distressing and undignified’ circumstances, risking their safety.

Since then, the RCN said there has been recognition of the issue by the Government and health leaders, but it warned there is a ‘potential for a repeat of the unacceptable scale of corridor care’ as the NHS enters its busy winter period.

A new briefing document from the RCN highlights the scale of 12-hour waits in A&E and the proportion of patients who leave emergency departments without being treated.

It raises concerns that bed capacity in the health service has ‘remained unchanged’ since 2019, while bed occupancy levels have stayed high ‘at thresholds widely regarded as unsafe’

Professor Nicola Ranger, chief executive and general secretary of the RCN, said: “Nursing staff and patients alike endured a horrendous winter last year, with corridor care rife across every service.

“Worryingly, after no respite in the summer, the signs point to the coming colder months being devastating and more dangerous for patients.