The RCN (Royal College of Nurses) union surveyed more than 5,000 nurses across the country, and issued a report finding that there has been a complete breakdown in nursing standards, with patients regularly coming to harm. In some cases, patients were dying in the corridors. Nine out of ten nursing staff stated that patient safety was at risk. Many work in crowded or unsuitable places every day, including parking lots and washrooms.
The report condemns the “normalization” of so-called corridor care, where nurses in cramped spaces have no access to life-saving equipment. One nurse from the East of England said that corridor nursing was “not the exception, but the rule” in her hospital network. Once in a corridor, a patient is at high risk of dying before receiving treatment.
Last month, around 54,000 patients in emergency departments in England had to wait more than 12 hours for a hospital bed to become available—a 23% increase on December 2023, according to the figures.
