Nearly 3,000 patients cared for in corridors or makeshift areas every day
Nearly 3,000 patients every day were cared for in hospital corridors or makeshift treatment areas in England last month
NHS England published figures for the first time on “corridor care”, with one expert saying they “confirm the scale of something that should never have been normalised in the NHS”. A patient is classed as receiving corridor care if their treatment does not take place in a clinically appropriate and safe setting. The criteria used for defining an appropriate setting includes things such as patients having privacy, access to food, water and toilets, and whether lights can be turned off and noise levels minimised to allow sleep. Overall, there were an average of 2,241 instances each day in May of a patient receiving corridor care for more than 45 minutes at hospital A&E departments. This includes patients receiving treatment, or waiting for assessment, admission or transfer, but not delays involving ambulances handing over patients to A&E staff. There were a further 699 instances on average each day last month of patients receiving corridor care for more than 45 minutes inside hospital wards. This figure covers patients who are being treated within a ward but not in a designated bed space. It is based on a snapshot of patient numbers at 8am each morning. It comes as the NHS waiting list for planned hospital treatment rose for the first time in six months. An estimated 7.22 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of April, relating to 6.11 million patients. This is up from 7.11 million treatments and 6.02 million patients at the end of March. The increase means the size of the list has returned to where it stood in February, reversing the fall that took place in March. Siva Anandaciva, director of policy, events and partnerships at the King’s Fund, said: “These figures confirm the scale of something that should never have been normalised in the NHS. “Patients are routinely being treated in hospital corridors, without privacy or dignity. Pressure across the whole health and care system is spilling into A&E. “The sheer scale of corridor care in the NHS is deeply concerning, equating to three in every 100 who attended an accident and emergency department every day. “Despite the extraordinary efforts of staff, corridor care is one of the most visible signs of how patient safety and experience are being compromised in the NHS. “It is distressing for staff when they cannot deliver the care they want for their patients and it is equally unacceptable when patients are left feeling forgotten and vulnerable at the time they most need to feel safe and cared for.” NHS hospitals typically experience increased demand in autumn and winter due to seasonal viruses and cold weather, which often leads to longer waiting times in A&E and a shortage of beds – a pattern that could be repeated in levels of corridor care. Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary, Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “The publication of today’s figures is testament to the dedicated campaigning of nursing staff, but the figures themselves are alarming. “They show that this unsafe and undignified practice is rife throughout our hospitals and not just limited to emergency departments. “That as many as 3,000 people a day were cared for in corridors during a spring month is such a damning indictment of how far care standards have fallen that words almost fail. “Behind these figures aren’t just patients and families suffering, but nursing staff demoralised at being forced to deliver poor care, day in day out.” Thursday’s data also showed the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England from a decision to admit to actually being admitted stood at 50,212 in May, up from 47,750 in April. The number waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission stood at 128,590 last month, up from 122,616 in April. Some 75.7% of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es in May, down from 76.9% in April. NHS England said A&Es experienced their busiest month on record in May and the bank holiday heatwave piled pressure on NHS services. Its analysis suggests 20 trusts accounted for more than half of the cases of corridor care in emergency departments, while 20 trusts also accounted for more than two-thirds of cases of corridor care elsewhere in hospitals. NHS England said those trusts with the highest levels of corridor care were now implementing improvement plans aimed at eliminating the practice, with specialist support offered. Professor Francesca Swords, national medical director for the NHS, said “too many” patients were still waiting in hospital corridors before being admitted to a ward. She said: “Corridor care is totally unacceptable and should have no place in the NHS, and this is why we have set out a seven-point plan to eradicate it, alongside offering targeted support for the trusts facing the greatest challenges. “Even though the forthcoming industrial action next week will add further pressure, the NHS remains there for those who need it. “Please come forward in the usual way, dialling 999 in an emergency and otherwise using NHS 111.” Health Secretary James Murray said: “Corridor care is unacceptable, undignified and has no place in our NHS. “That is why, for the first time, we are publishing this data to shine a spotlight on where the problems are greatest and ensure trusts get the support they need, with the vast majority of corridor care concentrated in a small number of organisations. “We have already deployed expert teams to help struggling trusts turn performance around. “Ending corridor care for good will take time and different areas will need different solutions, but we are determined to eradicate this practice.” Asked whether he would meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s target to slash NHS waiting lists by setting a target for the health service to carry out 92% of routine operations within 18 weeks by the end of the Parliament in 2029, Mr Murray told the Press Association: “The targets Wes Streeting was aiming for, we were aiming for as a government, and coming into this new position as Secretary of State, I don’t want to lose a second in our progress towards meeting those goals. “So we’ve been getting on with the job of government, we’ve been making sure that we’re focused on improving performance right across the NHS, and crucially focusing on that modernisation, digitisation, use of tech, use of AI, all the things we know will help us to make the really big improvements in the future to improve service for patients.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub