Last week, a consortium of health and care organisations sent an open letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting about corridor care.

‘As a coalition of trade unions, professional bodies, charities and patient groups, we are clear that treating patients in corridors, on chairs and other inappropriate spaces is in no way acceptable and must end.’

I am proud to stand side by side with my health and social care colleagues, led by the Royal College of Nursing. I know from personal experience how corridor care impacts patients, their loved ones and the professionals who have no choice but to work in these situations.

In 2023, my father fell during the night. He’s 88 and has some dementia. We had no idea how long he had been on the floor but I quickly realised it had been some time due to the dried blood on his arm.

During the 10 hours my father spent in ED, I witnessed vulnerable individuals being moved into cramped and narrow corridors within the busy innards of the Emergency Department. It felt as though ED was extending further and further into the hospital with pop up bays appearing to fill any available space, even as far as the corridors in departments where the ‘boarders’ were parked.

My father was moved a number of times, from chair to chair, bay to bay and bay to corridor. Thick red tape marked the parking bays in the corridor but it was too narrow for two trolleys to be side by side and I had to physically guard my father against other trolleys and equipment, people rushing about and individuals being transported from one end of the corridor to the other at speed. We also seemed to become invisible to the nursing and medical staff who were on duty around the corner. A poster on the wall attempted to reassure those reading it, apologising that ‘you are currently being looked after in the corridor’. It said, ‘this is not a delay in your care’ and placed the onus on ‘the patient’ to raise concerns with the ‘nurse responsible for your care, matron or nurse in charge’. But staff were impossible to find, the nurses walked past briskly, avoiding eye contact.

Eventually, following a number of professional to professional conversations, advocating for my father, my father was transferred to a trolly in a bay with curtains. This was not without its challenges. The nurse in charge of the bay queried this move out loud and verbally scalded a staff nurse for moving my father into the space. The guilt kicked in and I immediately felt as though I should apologise and wanted to roll my sleeves up and help out. I felt as though we had gone back 30 years.

Following a number of investigations over a number of hours, a staff member returned with blocks and tape, placing them either side of her father’s head, blocking his hearing aids and he was told to lay flat. They were querying a neck fracture. But this meant that he could now not see or hear anything, and while I was able to advocate from my father, what if this vulnerable individual was alone?

I perceived a lack of empathy and compassion amongst some staff, compassion fatigue if you will and those who were clinging onto their values and professionalism appeared as outliers and looked exhausted.

At best, the staff looked agnostic, coping as best they could with a new norm, “Corridor ‘Care’.”

This phenomenon has become worse over the last 18 months and I fear for every single individual who is stacked in corridors whether on chairs, standing or on trolleys, and I also fear for the staff who are forced to work in these situations. And I do ask myself, what would happen if they said no to working in these ways? Patients, loved ones and staff members have no privacy to care or to be cared for, no agency and do not feel valued.

This is where we are now. What is the role of a Chief Nursing Officer, a Chief Medical Officer, A Chief Midwifery Officer and a Chief Allied Health Professions Officer of an NHS organisation if it is not to ensure that every single individual who gives care and those receiving care are safe, valued and feel cared for?

When this is compromised, the heads of all regulated professionals should be up in arms. How can doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals and their teams continue to provide safe, effective and person-centred care if their Code of Ethics are being compromised on a daily basis?

I look forward with hope that we will coalesce, admit the problem and work together as an entire health and care system to ensure our citizens and health and care workforce are valued, are cared for and practise in conditions fit for purpose.

NOTES TO EDITORS 

The Foundation of Nursing Studies (FoNS) is a UK-based nursing charity with two main purposes: 

1. Advance education among the members of the nursing profession and  

1. Embed research into practice. 

Over the last 35 years, FoNS has established itself between research and practice through global communities of practice and focuses on person-centred practice development. FoNS works with nurses, midwives and their teams with a clear purpose- that individuals should experience health and social care as person-centred, safe and effective. This relates to those receiving and giving care as well as those in leadership positions.  

FoNS facilitates a number of development programmes and scholarships and is a proud partner of the Burdett Trust for Nursing.