Hospital corridor care being 'normalised'

PATIENTS are being treated in store cupboards, break rooms and toilets as so-called corridor care becomes the norm in Welsh hospitals, the Senedd has heard.

- CHRIS HAINES

Senedd members warned treating patients in inappropriate areas has become a "daily reality" rather than an exception as they debated calls for the practice to be eradicated.

The debate was prompted by a petition - submitted by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and British Medical Association (BMA) which gathered more than 10,000 signatures.

Petitioners demanded that keeping patients on trolleys or chairs for a long time be formally classified as a "never event" - a serious, preventable safety incident that should not happen.

But the Welsh Government rejected the calls, arguing the strict definition of a "never event" applies only to preventable medical mistakes not systemic capacity pressures.

The petition urged ministers to start reporting on corridor care, pause reductions in hospital beds, invest in community care, and prioritise prevention and early intervention.

Sharing her own experience, Reform UK's Laura Anne Jones argued corridor care is one of the clearest signs of a health service which has been allowed to fall into crisis.