Emergency doctors have criticised NHS guidance on how patients should be treated in hospital corridors.
They fear that new guidance normalises a dangerous situation and that caring for patients in corridors should be a last resort.
NHS England, which uses the jargon term ‘temporary escalation spaces’ to describe corridors, admits that some hospitals use them more regularly.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) said that it is not possible to give safe and good quality care in cupboards and walkways.
They added that they create long waiting times in emergency departments and pay little regard to patients’ dignity and confidentiality.
Guidance from the NHS suggests staff how can deliver the ‘safest, most effective and highest quality care possible’ in temporary spaces.
But it also goes on to say that corridor care is ‘not acceptable and should not be considered as standard.’
The RCEM said the use of corridors in emergency departments leads to longer waits which is ‘associated with measurable harm to patients.’
Proper rest and sleep are also ‘difficult, if not impossible’ for patients in temporary spaces.
To make matters worse, infection control is ‘not possible’ and it is ‘challenging’ for staff to monitor patients in corridors, the RCEM said, adding that giving patients the treatment they need is ‘made more difficult and often delayed.’
The College president Dr Adrian Boyle and the vice-president Dr Ian Higginson also said it is ‘distressing for patients, particularly the old and the vulnerable, to be in open, noisy, brightly lit, often cold areas.’
They added: ‘So-called ‘corridor care’ is a result of overcrowding, which leads to extended A&E stays that we know contribute to avoidable death.
‘We and our members cannot, and will not, accept this situation.
‘Rather than advising how to deal with overcrowding, all effort should be focused on preventing it.’
What are the challenges facing the NHS this winter?
It comes as the winter bug season is in full swing and scores of people have fallen ill due to a string of illnesses – and some have raised the alarm that this winter could be ‘one of the worst’ for the NHS.
The combination of flu, RSV, norovirus and Covid-19 has been dubbed the ‘quad-demic’ as the common but viral illnesses wreak havoc.
‘Trolley waits and corridor care has become normalised’
Witnesses have shared first-hand accounts of their loved ones’ being treated in full view of other patients and hospital visitors.
Senior midwife Donna Ockenden, who has led reviews into patient safety in the NHS, said recently she felt corridor care had become ‘normalised’ after seeing laminated signs on walls signposting where patients wait on trolleys.
She spoke about her daughter’s emergency treatment at an unnamed hospital in October, saying ‘trolley waits, corridor care, has become normalised.’
‘There are even signs on the wall now with numbers showing how many trolleys they can have any one time,’ she said.
‘There’s one particular corridor in this A&E where there’s space for five trolleys, and literally the walls are numbered with laminated signs.’
In June, a terminally ill woman was reportedly forced to sleep on a hospital floor due to a lack of beds.
Terminally ill Madeleine Butcher, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2022, had no choice but to lie down on the floor at Blackpool Victoria Hospital A&E while she faced up to a 36-hour wait.
Her husband said seeing her on the floor was ‘horrifying.’
The National Health Service has also faced cuts under the previous Conservative government after years of austerity. NHS England is set to receive £22,600,000,000 more funding following the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget, but experts have said it might not be enough to have an impact on patients.
Figures collated by the Liberal Democrats show that there has been a tenfold increase in wait times of over 24 hours for a bed in A&E since 2019.
Hospitals in England are often filled near their maximum capacity.
The latest data shows an average of 96,661 beds were filled each day last week – 94.6% of the total available beds.
The Labour Health Secretary Wes Streeting has ordered for health service bosses to ‘prioritise patient safety’ as the winter approaches. Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of the NHS England, has also said that ‘patient safety must be paramount.’
An NHS England spokesperson said the guidance, which was developed with nurses and clinical leaders, makes clear that the service does not believe ‘that caring for patients in temporary spaces is not acceptable, should never be considered as standard, and should only ever be used when all other options have been exhausted.’
They continued: ‘Patient flow through hospitals and capacity in A&E has been impacted by record levels of demand going into winter, a jump in patients hospitalised with viruses like flu and norovirus, and thousands of beds taken up by patients ready for discharge.
‘NHS staff are working hard to provide the safest possible care for patients this winter, including better use of live data, an expansion of same day emergency care, and more care in the community.’
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