Norfolk nurse warns hospitals in the county are having to treat patients in corridors
The RCN says that patients are dying in hospital corridors due to overcrowding
The Royal College of Nursing is urging the next government to hold immediate talks to improve nurses' pay as it declares a "national emergency" in the NHS.
A poll of frontline staff found two in five delivered care in inappropriate areas during their most recent shift.
They say patients are dying after being left without access to oxygen and other crucial medical support resources.
Natalie Brooks is a nurse based in Norfolk and the chair of the RCN Eastern Board.
She says the situation locally is reflective of the national issue:
“In Norfolk, we're just as involved in the crisis as the rest of the UK.
"We look after patients in corridors with an inappropriate lack of oxygen cylinders, a lack of corbel system, and a lack of dignity.”
She also explained that the impact of receiving care in these environments can have an extremely negative impact on patients:
“The patient doesn't receive the right care in the right place, meaning that their outcomes could be worse for their treatment. It could also mean longer stays in hospital and that they are not receiving the care they need.”
Aswell as the medical implications of the situation, patients are also enduring negative social experiences, with their dignity being compromised by receiving intimate examinations in crowded public areas.
Natalie Brooks says the overcrowding is a knock effect caused by the lack of funding for social care:
“If the government invested in social care, people wouldn't stay in the hospital, so the lack of funding for social care impacts on the NHS. The NHS has more patients waiting in beds that are waiting for social care that could be delivered at home. Therefore, they're staying longer in hospital and that's what's causing the overcrowding.”
She added that the situation is having an impact on nurses as well as patients:
“It’s really stressful and it's leading to burnout. Nurses have to choose where they're going to put their patients. And when you have to explain to someone who's worked all their life and put into the system that they're going to be cared for in the corridor, it really hurts you as a person. That's not what you go into nursing to do, it’s really embarrassing it's not what we expect from the NHS, which used to be world leading in healthcare and now it's nowhere near.”
At the annual RCN Congress, which is happening this week in Newport, union bosses have called for mandatory reporting of patients cared for in corridors and urged the government to act on hospital overcrowding.
Natalie Brooks echoed these calls:
“We want to see corridor care eradicated. It shouldn't be an option. It's not care. Corridor care is not care. We expect them to stop that and invest in care and invest in nursing.”