Patients dying in corridors as UK hospital standards 'collapse': Report

LONDON (AFP) — U.K. patients are “coming to harm” with hospitals so overwhelmed people are dying in corridors awaiting treatment amid a “collapse in care standards,” the country’s nurses union said in a report Thursday.

In the latest indictment of Britain’s beleaguered state-funded National Health Service, nine in 10 NHS nurses surveyed said “patient safety is being compromised.”

Nearly seven in 10 (66.8%) said they were delivering care in “overcrowded or unsuitable places” on a “daily basis”, including in corridors, converted cupboards, car parks and even bereavement rooms.

“The experiences of over 5,000 nursing staff across the UK highlight a devastating collapse in care standards, with patients routinely coming to harm,” said the Royal College of Nursing.

The report condemned the “normalization” of so-called “corridor care,” with nurses unable to access life-saving equipment in cramped spaces.

One nurse in east England said corridor care in their hospital trust was “not an exception, it’s the rule.”

Last month, some 54,000 patients in emergency departments in England had to wait over 12 hours until a hospital bed was available, up 23% from December 2023.

The report is a result of a Royal College of Nursing request at the end of December, asking members to fill out a short survey.

The report includes “the raw, unedited and often heart-breaking comments” of the thousands of nursing staff working across the U.K. who responded, the union said.

‘Jam-packed’

The report comes as NHS figures released separately Thursday revealed that last week was the busiest yet for the health service this winter, with hospitals “jam-packed” with patients.

Some 96% of all hospital beds were full, said Julian Redhead, NHS national clinical director for urgent and emergency care, warning that despite a drop in flu numbers “winter viruses are much higher than usual for this time of year.”

The RCN report included testimonies from nurses treating up to 40 patients waiting in a corridor, as well as reports of pregnant women miscarrying in corridors.

Some said the overcrowding in corridors impeded them from giving life-saving resuscitation. One nurse recalled a patient dying after a cardiac arrest “by the male toilet.”

Another alleged having to treat cardiac arrests “with no crash bell, crash trolley, oxygen, defibrillator … straddling a patient doing CPR while everyone watches on.”

“This devastating testimony from frontline nursing staff shows patients are coming to harm every day,” said RCN General Secretary Nicola Ranger.

“Vulnerable people are being stripped of their dignity and nursing staff are being denied access to vital lifesaving equipment. We can now categorically say patients are dying in this situation,” Ranger added.

In June 2024, the union declared a “national emergency” over hospital overcrowding and care being delivered in unsuitable places.

Health Foundation charity’s assistant director of policy Tim Gardner said record delays in emergency care “were a rarity before the pandemic, but are now the worst we have seen since records began in 2011.”

There are some 7.5 million people on the NHS waiting list, with more than 3 million having faced delays longer than 18 weeks for treatment.

Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was elected in July on a ticket which included fixing the NHS, rolled out a plan at the start of the year which included expanding community health centers to reduce pressure on hospitals.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Wednesday said corridor care was “unsafe” and “undignified” but it would “take time to undo the damage” to the NHS.

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By AKSHATA KAPOOR Agence France-Presse