The Royal College of Nursing and the British Medical Association in Wales have joined forces to call for an end to the practice which threatens patient safety.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the British Medical Association (BMA) in Wales have joined forces to address the state of corridor care in Welsh hospitals and healthcare services.
They have launched a joint petition which urges the Welsh government to take immediate action to end the practice of treating patients in corridors, chairs, waiting areas and all other inappropriate areas.
Reports from the RCN and members of BMA Cymru Wales are backed up by a recent survey from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine which showed that in the first quarter of the year, every A&E department in Wales recorded seeing patients in unsafe, inappropriate spaces with almost half of patients waiting for an inpatient bed.
“We are beyond breaking point. I have travelled across Wales and witnessed people in pain, confused and frightened, with no privacy, no dignity, and no proper care environment,” said Helen Whyley, executive director of RCN Wales.
Dire consequences
The launch of the petition was prompted by an overwhelming number of testimonies from doctors and nurses highlighting the dire consequences of corridor care. These include frail, elderly patients waiting days in chairs, patients in waiting areas, corridors and by nursing stations with no privacy resulting in missed diagnoses, delayed treatment, disorientation and deconditioning.
“When a patient is not placed in a bed space there’s a chance something vital may be missed, there’s no access to monitoring equipment and no privacy to carry out certain procedures,” said Stephen Kelly, chair of the BMA’s Welsh consultants committee.
“This is dangerous and is putting patients’ lives at risk, we urge the Welsh Government to work with us to put a stop to this practice,” he continued.
As well as demanding investment in community care, the petition calls on the Welsh government to begin recording and reporting on corridor care in Wales, starting by making it a never-event for patients to receive care in chairs for more than 24 hours. And to pause reductions in NHS Wales hospital beds – to review capacity nationally and deliver a clear, costed workforce plan to ensure hospitals and wider care settings can meet future demand.
Compromises safety
In response to the petition, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, the public body which is part of NHS Wales, said that it recognised the serious challenges posed by the need to provide care in non-configured hospital spaces across Wales.
“This so-called corridor care can compromise patient safety, dignity, and the overall quality of care. Corridor care should not be normalised,” it said in a statement.
Where corridor care is used due to exceptional pressures, it must be managed safely, with appropriate staffing, oversight and respect for the needs of patients, the organisation said. “Services must work towards eliminating the need for corridor care altogether,” it added.
Healthcare Inspectorate Wales said that it continues to challenge health boards to address these pressures, improve patient flow, and deliver care in clinically appropriate settings.
